Teaching and Learning Chinese in Global Contexts: Multimodality and Literacy in the New Media Age 9781474212373, 9781441100399

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Notes on Contributors

Yea-Fen Chen, Ph.D., is Associate Professor at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee in the United States, where she coordinates the Chinese Language Program and the Asian Studies Certificate Program. She is also the Executive Director of the Chinese Language Teachers’ Association (United States) and serves on the College Board’s AP Chinese Course and Exam Development Committee. Her research interests focus on teacher training, foreign language pedagogies, second language acquisition and foreign language learning strategies. Among her many publications, she has coauthored the following Chinese language textbooks: Integrated Chinese, Chaoyue: Advancing in Chinese, Crossing Paths: Living and Learning in China and Shifting Tides: Culture in Contemporary China. Ken Cruickshank, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at University of Sydney, Australia. He has a track record in research into ethnic minority students’ educational experiences and outcomes. His work with Muslim communities in Australia focused on the impact of language/ literacy and cultural issues on educational outcomes. He has also researched bilingualism in ethnic minority groups. Joseph Lo Bianco is professor of language and literacy education at the University of Melbourne and President of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. He is the author of Australia’s first language policy, the National Policy on Languages, and was Director of the National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia from 1989 to 2001. Recent books include China and English: Globalisation and Dilemmas of Identity (with Orton and Gao, 2009) and Second Languages and Australian Schooling (2009). Fang Gao, Ph.D., is a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Centre for Advancement of Chinese Language Education and Research in the Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong. She graduated from Ph.D. program in Education at the University of Hong Kong. Her Ph.D. dissertation examines the schooling experiences of Korean students behind the model minority stereotype.

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Shih-Chang Hsin is Professor at the Graduate Institute of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language in the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU). As the founder of the Department of Chinese Language and Culture for International Students at NTNU, he is also the President of the Association of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language in Taiwan. His research interests focus on computer-based language learning, language curriculum and instructional design, and Chinese education promotion. He has published extensively in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language and has supervised more than 50 Master’s theses and Doctoral dissertations. Wing-Wah Ki, Ph.D., is Associate Professor, in the Division of Science, Mathematics and Computing, Project Director, Supporting Secondary Schools in the Teaching and Learning of Chinese for Non-native Learners (2008–2011), Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong. He specializes in computer education and Chinese learning. He has published more than 20 books and 50 research articles. Li Wei, Ph.D., is Chair of Applied Linguistics at Birkbeck College, University of London, United Kingdom. He is also Assistant Dean for Postgraduate Research in the School of Social Sciences, History and Philosophy. His research interests are in bilingualism including bilingual education and intercultural pragmatics. He is author or editor of many publications including the best selling The Bilingualism Reader and The Blackwell Guide to Research Methods in Bilingualism and Multilingualism which won the 2009 British Association for Applied Linguistics Book Prize. He is also Principal Editor of The International Journal of Bilingualism. Lu Jianji is Professor of Chinese as a Foreign Language at Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU). Besides teaching, his area of interest has been the theory of language teaching and acquisition, interlanguage in particular. From 1970s till his retirement in 1998, he worked or taught in several Asian and European countries, Australia and the United States. He worked as president and editor-in-chief of BLCU Press, a professional publisher of books in the field of teaching Chinese as a foreign language, from 1985 to 1995. His publications include Thoughts on the Teaching of Chinese as a Foreign Language (1999), Modern Chinese: Beginners’ Course (a series of 6 textbooks) (1986), Chinese for Beginners: Intensive Reading (2008) and The Commercial Press Learner’s Dictionary of Contemporary Chinese (2006, with Lu Wenhua).

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Jane Orton, Ph.D., is Director of the Chinese Teacher Training Centre in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, where she coordinated modern languages education for 20 years. She has published particularly on second language kinesic expression and identity (e.g. Responses to Chinese Speakers of English, IRAL, Vol. 44, No. 3, Gesture in Modern Language Teaching and Learning. Babel, 42 (2)) and has recently co-edited a book, China and English: Globalization and Issues of Identity (Multilingual Matters, 2009), in which she has written chapters on the identity of English in China over the past 150 years. Her 2008 report Chinese Language Education in Australian Schools has been highly influential in reforming policy and practice in the field. Andrew Scrimgeour is a Research Fellow at the Research Centre for Languages and Cultures (RCLC) at the University of South Australia, and former teacher of Chinese in schools. He has been undertaking research in aspects of languages teaching and learning including languages education pedagogy, curriculum design, assessing student outcomes and particularly issues in teaching and learning character-based languages. He has been involved as a researcher in a number of collaborative research projects through the Research Centre for Languages and Cultures. He is an associate member of the Chinese Teacher Training Centre at the University of Melbourne, and was appointed to the national expert group to advise the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) in its work in developing the national curriculum for languages in Australian schools. Mark Shiu-Kee Shum, Ph.D., is Associate Professor, Head of Division of Chinese Language and Literature, Project Director, Support Centre for Teachers Using Chinese as the Medium of Instruction, Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong. He specializes in Systemic functional linguistics and its application to language education; Genre-based approach in teaching Chinese and Teaching Chinese as a second language. He has published more than 20 books and 50 research articles. Wei Xiong Tan was a graduate from Fudan University. He is currently a research student in the University of Hong Kong. He has participated in research and developmental projects organized by Ministry of Education, Singapore Government. His research interests include Chinese language education, modern Chinese literature and language policies.

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Shek Kam Tse, Ph.D., is Professor, at present the Associate Dean of the Faculty of Education, and Director of the Centre for the Advancement of Chinese Language Education and Research of the University of Hong Kong. He has been providing consultancy service to a number of local and overseas organizations on the teaching of Chinese language, including Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR), Curriculum Development Institute, Education Commission, and Education Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government, Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organizations (SEAMEO), Chinese Education Centre of the Netherlands Government and the Ministry of Education of Singapore Government. He has published more than 30 books and 110 research articles. He is experienced in leading large-scale projects in education innovation and assessment. In recent years he has been carrying out pioneering work in learning and teaching Chinese as a second language. Linda Tsung, Ph.D., is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Sydney, Australia. She specializes in teaching Chinese as a second language and Chinese teacher education. She has a track record in research into bilingualism and bilingual education for ethnic minority students, and their educational experiences and outcomes in China. She is author or editor of many publications including Minority Languages, Education and Communities in China published by Palgrave Macmillan 2009. She established the initial Chinese teacher training programs at the University of Sydney and set up Master of Education programs in Teaching Chinese as a second language at the University of Hong Kong. Since 2007 she has led a large project funded by Hong Kong SAR government for the development of learning Chinese as a second language by minority background students in Hong Kong. Yun Xiao, Ph.D., is Associate Professor and Chair of the Modern Languages Department at Bryant University. Her research interests are Chinese second language acquisition and pedagogy, heritage language learning and teacher education. Her recent publications include more than 20 articles and book chapters. She is also the primary author of Readings in Chinese Literature Series (Volumes 1–4, 2007; 2008; 2009; in press); co-author/ co-editor of Chinese as a Heritage Language: Fostering Rooted World Citizenry (2008); and co-author/co-editor of Chinese as a Foreign Language: Theories and Applications (2008).

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Qunying Zhang, Ph.D., is Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong. Zhang has long been engaged in second language education and cross-cultural studies of teaching conceptions and practices. Her recent research is focused on the education provision for language minority students and the teaching and learning of Chinese as a second language. Zhao Yongxin is Professor at Beijing Language and Culture University. He graduated from the Department of Chinese Linguistics and Literature, Nanjing University in 1963. As a teacher of Chinese as a foreign language, he taught both at home and extensively in some Asian, Oceanian and European countries as well as China’s Macao. He writes in Chinese linguistics, Chinese teaching and textbooks, contrastive analysis between Chinese and English. He also does some literary translation (E–C) and prose writing. His publications include Essentials of Chinese Grammar for Foreigners (1992), Chinese Arts & Its Spirit (1993), Contrastive Language Studies and the Teaching of Chinese as a Second Language (1995), Contrastive Studies of Languages and Cultures and the Teaching of Chinese as a Second Language (1997) and The Stream-Studies in Language and Culture (2002). Minglang Zhou, Ph.D., is Associate Professor and Director of the Chinese program at the University of Maryland, College Park. He specializes in the sociology of language and teaching Chinese as a second language. He has published five volumes and many articles on multilingualism and ethnicity in China. He is recently awarded a 2009 American Philosophical Society Fellowship for his book project on Between Integration and Segregation: Changing Models of Nation-State Building and Language Education for Minorities in China. Zhu Hua, Ph.D., is Reader in Applied Linguistics and Communication at Birkbeck College, University of London, United Kingdom. Her research interests include child language development and disorder and intercultural communication. She is author or editor of many publications including Phonological Development in Specific Contexts, Phonological Development and Disorder and Language Learning and Teaching as Social Inter-Action.

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Chinese: The Gigantic Up-and-Comer Joseph Lo Bianco

On 4 January 2010 the British Broadcasting Corporation reported the UK Children’s Secretary, Ed Balls, declaring that ‘All secondary school pupils in England should have the chance to learn a less familiar language such as Mandarin’ (BBC, 2010), which he described as ‘up-and-coming’. The ‘rush to learn China’s official language’ has major UK daily newspapers suggesting: ‘[n]ever mind French and Spanish’ (Ward, 2007). For every proposal there is predictable opposition and what is claimed against Chinese is, as ever, practical constraints against mass teaching of the language, such as teacher shortages, absent student motivation and insufficient curriculum time, alongside the hardy perennials about the inherent difficulty of tones and characters (Mount, 2010). While Chinese has been taught and studied as a first language for millennia, its status as a second language is more recent, though it does count a history of some centuries in that regard (Lo Bianco, 2007; 2009b). Its presence as a major foreign language in the curricula of schools across the world, however, is both slight and hypothetical. So much is clear from a survey by Cha and Ham (2008) which documents the tight connection between major world events and the choices of ‘first foreign language’ (FFL) across the world over the past 155 years. The prevalence of English in this stock-take is so great that the writers speculate about whether a ‘single global society’ is emerging in its wake. What is clear from the data comparing choice of FFL in the curricula of primary and secondary schools is the volatility of dominant languages, reflecting the momentous changes in the world over the past century and a half. The shifts are most dramatic at the end of the First World War, the end of the Second World War and the end of the Cold War with the collapse of the Berlin Wall. At each of these junctures German ceded to French and French to English, with only an intervening period of presence for Russian in the latter two periods.

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Table 0.1 First Foreign Language across World Education Systems PERIODS

% German

% French

% English

1850–1874 1875–1889 1890–1919 1920–1944 1945–1969 1970–1989 1990–2005

50 44.4 24.3 14.8 0 0 0.7

33.3 38.9 45.9 35.2 28.1 17 13.6

8.3 5.6 27 33.3 59.4 67.4 82.1

Source: Adapted from Cha and Ham, 2008

The number of countries represented in the data increased from 15 and 12 for primary and secondary schools in the first period to 151 and 154 for the 1990–2005 period, see Table 0.1. In Asia, English grew from 33% of primary curricula during 1945–1969 to 83% in primary and 100% for secondary by 2005 (see Lo Bianco, 2009a and 2009c for an extended discussion). In this context the elaboration by Mr Balls that his declaration of support for improved Chinese teaching was both optional and ‘aspirational’ was ominous and unpromising. His interest in languages reiterates dominant utilitarian reasoning (hard power) when he says that encouraging more students, British youngsters, to study Chinese should accompany expansion in the teaching of Portuguese for trading with Brazil, Spanish in Argentina and Bahasa Indonesia in Indonesia. Trade volumes and trade performance are the index measures of contemporary language education policy. They constitute an ‘economistic’ rationale already familiar in most English-speaking countries, not least in Australia where since 1970 there have been no fewer than 67 major policy reports, reviews and explicit policies advocating improved second language study. The most recent instalment is a national program on behalf of Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese and Korean which, despite providing practically no increase in instructional time, little innovation in methodology and only a modest additional investment of money, is expected to produce ‘fluency’ in key Asian languages (Lo Bianco, 2009c) by the end of secondary schooling.

Language Learning and the Global Age Unrealistic expectations about proficiency outcomes from regular school programs also belies a failure of policy makers to understand that most so-called foreign languages, and this is particularly true of Chinese, are not

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‘foreign’ to most of their learners. Probably the most tangible indicator of the term ‘global age’ is population mobility and the mobility of peoples (students, immigrants, tourists) involves the flow of languages. Despite this reality current policy discourses continually operate with an assumption that the teaching of languages is concerned with coaching young people to learn how to talk to people who live in far away places about the exchange of goods and services. There are three risks with this reductive understanding of what is involved in ‘foreign’ language education in a global age. The first is discursive, the second is pedagogical and the third is concerned with proficiency. Constantly hitching school language teaching to trade statistics has resulted in an almost complete absence of a rationale for languages for substantive educational, intellectual and cultural reasons. In the case of Chinese civilizational claims for its presence in education curricula are already sufficient. Basing language teaching choices exclusively on contingent economic fortunes of different economies risks chopping and changing languages when trade fortunes change. Practical reasons for doing languages are of course important to many learners, their families and to the wider society, but finding a permanent and cohesive curriculum presence for languages requires a more substantive effort of engagement with the primary purposes of education. The widespread functional role of English in global communication is often used as a foil against serious commitment to second language study when this is premised only on utilitarian grounds. A recent report by the British Academy (2008) acknowledges ‘the perceived global dominance of English’ (3) as the key reason for foreign language weakness in UK education. Compounded by recent policy changes this has led to a sharp decline in language study at the General Certificate of Secondary Education, so that ‘[By] 2008, the proportion of pupils taking no language at GCSE in England had more than doubled, rising to 56%’ (BA, 2009). This crisis arose when languages were demoted in 2004, being made ‘non-compulsory’ after age 14. The erosion of languages at university level in Australia has a regrettably similar history, leading the major higher education bodies to host a national summit and issue a sharply worded communiqué lamenting the national crisis in language study (AAH, 2007). The pedagogical risk of tying languages too closely to foreign places, foreign peoples and far away contexts is to misconstrue who the learners are in the classrooms of contemporary (i.e. multilingual and multicultural) societies. This is especially true for Chinese whose learners in a growing

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number of countries range from complete beginners to fully proficient background speakers. Chinese benefits by having a large and dispersed diaspora population whose community organizations provide both nativespeaker settings for the language, widespread variation in spoken language forms, local communicative norms and values, and pre-existing efforts of language maintenance. These must be taken into account as the multiple forms of human capital (Wang, 2007) involved in Chinese study. The discursive risk involves linking language study too closely to trade, and the pedagogical risk involves failing to meet the distinctive needs of the wide diversity of learners. Combined these produce a further risk of producing programs which will not produce the gains in proficiency and academic standards which are needed.

The Volume This important volume, edited by Linda Tsung and Ken Cruickshank, is an important instalment in helping to make sense of the complex business of language learning in the global age. The chapters provide a rich and rewarding study of the issues and challenges that face the widespread teaching of Chinese. The first thing to note is the diversity of contexts in which Chinese teaching is taking place, and from where it starts. The Cha and Ham data (2008) show that between 1850 and 2005 only three languages, all European, have occupied the position of FFL in the curricula of schools across the world. The volume is organized around two concepts, ‘language learning’ and ‘global context’, and these are frequently connected in public and academic discussions. These discussions often end up asking whether the global age will mean the triumph of English, or whether Chinese will be the ‘new English’. Such questions are interesting but reductive. ‘Language learning’ and ‘global context’ are connected in a deep and utterly inextricable way and to understand their connection involves looking at issues of identity, power, culture, opportunity, method, image, relationships, and history and its interpretations. Ultimately all second language learning is a personal and a social commitment to expanding interaction. Policies which advance second language learning are therefore a public investment in selected kinds of interaction and personal commitment to persist with language study beyond the prescribed minima available in formal education. Learning and teaching Chinese in a global context is a framing of the issue of Chinese language

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education that raises questions of the purposes and audiences for second language learning. The first of these involves awareness that Chinese today, and more so in the future, is a language whose general importance and instrumental value in the world have drastically increased. The second of these questions asks with whom we intend to interact when we learn Chinese. Underlying both is the issue of who ‘we’ are doing the teaching and learning of Chinese and our relationship to its presence today and its long history. Chinese has many kinds of presences. It is a language of a vast and singular polity, the People’s Republic; it is also the language of other polities, Singapore and Taiwan in an official sense, in which it is a major minority language; and then it is the language of a widespread small-minority diaspora. This volume is acutely sensitive to the many and diverse contexts in which Chinese is spoken, in which it is taught, and the many sociolinguistic realities these imply in which personal identities and pedagogical issues arise. The volume is very well framed by the editors as they discuss what it means to talk of Chinese as an additional language. The first broad setting in which Chinese is an additional language is in its vast diaspora, where it is an additional language among British Chinese learners. Li Wei and Zhu Hua report original and fascinating research from within Chinese community schools in Britain which tracks internal changes to the ‘pecking order’ of different varieties of what counts as Chinese among the Sino-Saxons. This discussion has an antipodean resonance in New Zealand where Xiao Hong reports on the smaller but scarcely less complex reality of the multiple presences of Chinese as a language of heritage, a community language and a foreign language. These terms account for related but distinct communicative realities. The first term is oriented towards the internal identities of existing speakers and the potential for intra-community ‘naturalized’ transmission of Chinese. The second term, community language, relates to the New Zealand specific use of varieties of Chinese. The third term, foreign language, is about new learning that linguistic outsiders do of Chinese within New Zealand education. From within the diaspora attention moves to what the editors label post-colonial contexts for Chinese learning, and specifically Singapore and Hong Kong. In Chapter 3, Shek Kam Tse and Wei Xiong Tan look at the much studied but linguistically very complex setting of Singapore (Vaish et al., 2007). Tse and Tan highlight the function of government policy, and the explicit and overt mode in which Singapore has historically planned the distribution and mastery of its constituent languages. The focus here is on

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the primary school and differentiated delivery of innovative material to cater for widely variant proficiency skills among ethnic Chinese learners. Two chapters are devoted to Hong Kong addressing very different realities. First Mark Shum, Linda Tsung and Fang Gao provide a compelling account of the growing esteem of Putonghua among Cantonese-speaking learners, and government attitudes to and programs for its promotion, as well as research evidence of the effects of its teaching. Putonghua is both the official language of the PRC and the language of many new arrivals within the Special Administrative Region of the PRC which is the 50-year designation of Hong Kong from 1997 when sovereignty was restored to China. How Hong Kong positions itself in relation to these two factors and to the wider world of demand for Chinese will be an important story for continuing observation but from Shum’s research it is clear that despite challenges and ambiguities Hong Kong will be an important provider of Putonghua education. This role takes place within the Biliterate and Trilingual (written Chinese, and English and spoken Cantonese English and Putonghua) framework adopted as the language policy by the Hong King administration. Hong Kong also has long contained, from its pre-handover era, nonChinese and non-Chinese-speaking minorities whose integration into the lingual life of the SAR, and China more widely, is a matter of considerable interest. Chapter 5 reports research conducted among South Asians and their learning of Chinese by Qunying Zhang, Linda Tsung, Ken Cruickshank, Wing-Wah Ki and Mark Shum. These writers have conducted extensive documentation of the linguistic integration challenges faced by South Asian, Southeast Asian and other minority populations with the Hong Kong population. Recently the HK government has embarked on a more systematic process of supporting their full integration into the education and economic landscape of Hong Kong. Chapters 6 and 7 of the book focus on the People’s Republic itself. These two chapters address vastly different realities of Chinese learning: Fang Gao investigates the bilingual learning context of Koreans and their prospects for attaining literate and spoken bilingual skill. She shows how a balanced approach to mother tongue-majority language skills is most advantageous both to the educational performance of such minority pupils but also their learning of the national language and its promise of upward social mobility, while all the while maintaining ethnic identity. Shifting to the far west of China is the chapter by the editors. The setting is the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region where formal policy aims to merge minority schools with state institutions. Tsung and Cruikshank describe how two

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schools are undergoing this process and note the poor resourcing and delivery of the programs offered in both the minority language and Chinese. The next macro reality addressed is the one in which Chinese is constituted not as a minority language in the diaspora, nor as a key language in post-colonial settings, nor again as the official national language taught to minorities within the PRC. Instead the focus moves to contexts where Chinese is a modern foreign language studied by non-native speakers far away from settings of Chinese sovereignty (the United States) or within China itself in immersion programs. The first discussion is by Lu Jianji and Zhao Yongxin and reveals how China itself prepares for and imagines the role of Chinese abroad. They do this by tracing the institutional arrangements created to promote Chinese abroad, and the tools and instruments of teaching, assessment and resourcing for the anticipated expansion of Chinese in the world. The second discussion is by Minglang Zhou whose conceptually rich discussion traces language ideology, categorization and structures of communicative order within the wider United States setting over a 50-year period. He shows a deep and possibly permanent change in attitudes towards bi/multilingualism and assesses the role of Chinese capability within this reconstruction of the linguistic order internal to US public and private attitudes. In the following chapters the focus shifts towards issues that face educators and planners in light of the growing prevalence of Chinese teaching and learning. First, Jane Orton discusses her recent research and new institutional programs to educate teachers of Chinese. She relates these developments to the complex set of questions that have long been debated about how to make Chinese as a second language more effective, especially regarding the preparation of teachers. These are issues which she shows are finally being tackled as well as being debated. Yea-Fen Chen and Shih-Chang Hsin continue this focus on teacher preparation and competence but move from Australia to Taiwan and in particular address the training of teachers of Chinese as a Second Language. What counts as competence, and variations in linguistic norms, not to mention pedagogy are interesting reflections from these two chapters. On a greater scale, some 2 million local speakers, Yun Xiao talks of the long-standing but fast growing diaspora Chinese in the United States, the Anglophone and Sinophone linguistic paradigms, the G2 of the modern world destined to shape so much of the global realities for the foreseeable future The national investment in Chinese study in the United States is now

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very substantial and growing, with a huge variety of types of provision supported by a broad national discourse of investment in a strategic resource to advance America’s national interests. However, American Chinese education is also sustained by a separate and increasingly well organized intracommunity effort towards protecting and restoring a valued heritage. Soon Chinese in the United States will have to discard its cumbersome label of ‘less-commonly taught language’, which has been its main discursive frame since the early 1980s. Wang (2007) also traces the fortunes of American Chinese and the various kinds of cultural capital attaching to it; in Yun Xiao’s chapter we appreciate the scale of change and the drive for improvement which will soon make the United States a leader in Chinese pedagogy. In the next chapter Andrew Scrimgeour looks at the critical question of literacy in Chinese as a second language programs. He debates the issues as they are inevitably posed when the teaching of Chinese is proposed, questions related to characters and the timing of their introduction, the mode of teaching and the role and sequencing of characters and use of Hanyu Pinyin. Research into character reading, processes of acquisition and cognitive demands, can only partially inform what teachers actually do because as Scrimgeour shows programs are hamstrung by lack of appropriate and research-informed resources. In the final chapter the editors return to the essential themes of the book and offer a way to think about the multiple local realities of Chinese teaching. The vast array of particular settings would seem to preclude any broad generalizations, but the writers find emerging common questions and trends across the multifarious settings and problems discussed in the book. They make some productive connections between issues specific to Chinese teaching in a global context and the general preoccupations of professional language researchers and specifically the priorities of applied linguistics which will increasingly need to devote attention to the challenge and rewards of much greater teaching and learning of Chinese in the world.

Future Prospects for Chinese If we could add more time periods to the 155-year framework discussed above it is likely that Chinese will have made itself felt among the FFL in several settings, though unlikely that it will soon if ever displace English as overall FFL.

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The presence of Chinese in non-Anglophone countries will grow rapidly and it will secure its presence among the priority taught languages in African, European, Australasian and wider American settings. In many settings Chinese will assume the status of second or third foreign language and in some Anglophone settings as the first foreign language. In practically all these settings the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language, in its role as the official language of China, supported by the discourses of the PRC and the institutions and tools it creates to promote its teaching, will need to take account of pre-existing Chinese language teaching efforts in the diaspora. The global context means mobility of students, and teachers, as much as it implies flows of culture, language and goods and services. In this expanded teaching therefore there will be a combination of long-standing and vibrant communities, long-standing and assimilated communities, more recent and assimilating communities and more recent and unassimilated communities (Liu et al., 2007). This growth of Chinese teaching will be driven by market demand and public policy as revealed by media discussion in the United Kingdom in the introduction. In all language policy we see a predictable line up of declarations of national interest (in English-speaking countries these serve to drum up interest in language study because of the disincentive effect of global English) and then announcements of resourcing, targets and modalities for change, and then public contest and challenge. For the most part Chinese will follow the same pathway to finding a secure and prominent place in public education that other major languages have pursued. For Japanese and Korean, this has involved a similar sequence of mass production export, leading to a more broad based economic and strategic power, followed by enhanced cultural confidence and desire for influence, leading to the establishment of institutions and schools for language and culture promotion abroad. A decade after the achievement of the first step both Japan and Korea established external cultural promotion institutions and policies, exactly as China has since done (discussed in Lo Bianco, 2009a). However, Chinese has additional and distinctive features: greater scale, a vastly extended diaspora and the claims of history. These features, scale, diaspora and history, are now discussed very briefly in relation to the communicativity thesis of an earlier generation of sociolinguists, political scientists and sociologists. Communicativity involves the process whereby political communities with shared institutions make language choices, ostensibly on efficiency grounds but often in relation to power and politics.

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In 1956 Greenberg initiated a process for devising rules for predicting language choices in macro settings (discussed in Kuo, 1979). He conducted corelational studies of politico-economic, geographic, historic and other factors to calculate the probabilities that randomly selected individuals would make this or that language choice, a kind of natural selection index for languages (and other communication forms such as orthographies). In a sophisticated expansion of the Greenberg approach Lieberson (also in Kuo, 1979) took the communicativity calculation beyond a single community with shared institutions to ‘spatially delineated’ populations or two sub- or minority populations within a given group. Kuo (1979) applied the Greenberg and Lieberson approach to Singapore (and Peninsular Malaysia), in an attempt to calculate empirically the communicativity index that would prevail there. He used survey research to calculate the communicativity of six languages in Singapore (three varieties of Chinese: Mandarin, Hokkien and Cantonese; and English, Tamil and Malay). The calculations showed how English advanced against the consolidation of Chinese varieties into Mandarin and the marginalization or intra-ethnicity concentration of Tamil and Malay, over a period from 1972 to 1978, contrasted to the intensification of communicativity of Malay in West (Peninsular) Malaysia. The most recent instalment in this kind of calculation is from the Dutch sociologist, Abram De Swaan (1993), who prefers the term Q-value to calculate the relative power of different languages. Essentially, this is a measure of the communication potential of a language or cluster of languages for a speaker in the system. If we assume today that the integrating global marketplace is coming to resemble ‘a system’ then the question arises how we can account for the communication potential of all the languages available in that system. De Swaan’s basic idea is that individuals add to their linguistic repertoire the language that returns the greatest communication payoff, that is, which increases Q-value. Needless to say English has immense Q-value because of its unique constellation of geographic spread, institutional presence, existing resources, both human and technological, and so on. This way to measure language power, however, dispenses with any sense of how the language got to enjoy its specific endowments and this is the main burden of a scathing critique of this formulaic approach to calculating language power by Phillipson (2004) who shifts emphasis away from abstract means for measuring power to its critique. De Swaan is equally critical in response (2004) arguing that language rights and support for small languages are simply the politics of ‘linguistic sentimentalism’ and that language choice is ultimately governed by the operations of marketplaces rather than either sentiment or notions of rights.

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The reason for including this debate here is to underscore that Chinese is in a unique position, not unlike that of English, in which many perspectives, real-politik, sentiment and rights, all come together. The underlying demand for Chinese is clearly tied to its massive economic and strategic presence in the global age, and in a consensus among observers that this power will increase rather than wane. After all the very age itself is called the Chinese century. However, this is precisely the point Phillipson (2004) makes in relation to English, which he insists can only be discussed as linguistic imperialism, against those who want to see in its vast presence in the world some neutral, abstract and impersonal operation, without interests or power. Choice of taught foreign language is an expression of ‘soft power’ (Nye, 2004), the ability to persuade, attract and influence, under which lies the hard power realities of commercial interests, power politics and military projection. The notion of soft power, seeking advantage through cooption and persuasion, rather than overt coercion, brings us to an additional claim for Chinese, history and civilization. Even the very notion of soft power itself can be seen as a modern borrowing of an ancient Chinese precept, wu wei conceptualized by Laozi (㗕ᄤ) or Lao-Tzu, founder of the Daoist school of thought and author of the Daodejing (Moeller, 2006). Laozi’s most famous dictum wu wei, a classic and even a stereotypical Chinese political and philosophical ideal, is something akin to laissez-faire, or acting with spontaneity. When Europe interacted closely with China during the Ming and Qing dynasties (Lo Bianco, 2009b) a rich exchange of deep cultural concepts and values occurred between Chinese literati and European intellectuals. Some of the latter were influenced by Confucian and Daoist principles, borrowing, possibly, a central notion of economic theory in the formulation by French and Scottish enlightenment thinkers of the invisible hand of market forces, the philosophy of laissez-faire. Ng (2007: 261) calls laissez-faire ‘the French equivalent of wu wei’. Exercising influence with desirelessness suggests that Chinese, the gigantic up-and-comer among languages, need not rely on its presence in hard power. The attraction of its ancient culture is sufficient remit for its teaching worldwide, and will extend its Q-value or index of communicativity to ensure enduring return from Chinese learning and teaching in a global age.

References Australian Academy of the Humanities (AAH) (2007), Languages in crisis, Communiqué of the National Languages Summit, viewed 12 December 2009, http:// www.humanities.org.au/Policy/Languages/

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BBC (2010), Mandarin ‘should be available’ for all English pupils, viewed 5 January 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8439959.stm British Academy (BA) (2009), Language matters, a position paper, viewed 5 January 2010, http://www.britac.ac.uk/policy/language-matters/position-paper.cfm Cha, Y. K. and Ham, S. H. (2008), ‘The impact of English on the school curriculum’, in B. Spolsky and F. Hult (eds), The Handbook of Educational Linguistics. London: Blackwell, pp. 313–328. De Swaan, A. (1993), ‘The evolving European language system: A theory of communication potential and language competition’, International Political Science Review, 14, (3), 241–255. De Swaan, A. (2004), ‘Endangered languages, sociolinguistics, and linguistic sentimentalism’, European Review, 12, (4), (October), 567–580. Kuo, E. C. Y. (1979), ‘Measuring communicativity in multilingual societies: The cases of Singapore and West Malaysia’, Anthropological Linguistics, 21, (7), (October), 328–340. Liu, G. Q. and Lo Bianco, J. (2007), ‘Teaching Chinese, teaching in Chinese, and teaching the Chinese’, in J. Lo Bianco (ed.), The Emergence of Chinese: Language Policy, 6, (1). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer, pp. 95–117. Lo Bianco, J. (2007), ‘The emergence of Chinese’, Language Policy, 6, (1), (March). Lo Bianco, J. (2009a), ‘English at home in China: How far does the bond extend?’, in J. Lo Bianco, J. Orton and Y. H. Gao (eds), China and English: Globalisation and Dilemmas of Identity. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters, pp. 192–210. Lo Bianco, J. (2009b), ‘Intercultural encounters and deep cultural beliefs’, in J. Lo Bianco, J. Orton and Y. H. Gao (eds), China and English: Globalisation and Dilemmas of Identity. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters, pp. 23–56. Lo Bianco, J. (2009c), Second Languages and Australian Schooling. Australian Council for Educational Research, AER 54, Camberwell, VIC. Moeller, H. G. (2006), The Philosophy of the Daodejing. New York: Columbia University Press. Mount, H. (2010), ‘Mandarin classes for all is crackers, in any language’, The Daily Telegraph, viewed 5 January 2010, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/ 6937475/Mandarin-classes-for-all-is-crackers-in-any-language.html Ng, T. P. (2007), Chinese Culture, Western Culture. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse. Nye, J. S. (2004), Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics. New York: Public Affairs. Phillipson, R. (2004), ‘English in globalization: Three Approaches’, Journal of Language, Identity and Education, 3, (1), 73–84. Vaish, V., Liu, Y. and Gopinathan, S. (2007), Language, Capital, Culture: Critical Studies of Language in Education in Singapore. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. Wang, S. (2007), ‘Building societal capital: Chinese in the US’, in J. Lo Bianco (ed.), The Emergence of Chinese: Language Policy, 6, (1). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer, pp. 27–52. Ward, L. (2007), ‘Never mind French and Spanish . . .’, Education Guardian, 4 February, viewed 5 January 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2007/apr/02/ schools.uk

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Chapter 1

Emerging Trends and Issues in Teaching and Learning Chinese Linda Tsung and Ken Cruickshank

Introduction The history of the teaching and learning of Chinese is a long one marked by recent rapid expansion. Research in the field, however, is fairly recent and connections are being developed between the varied contexts on teaching and learning: as a ‘foreign’ language in China, the United States and other countries, as a second language to minority groups in China and Taiwan and in post-colonial contexts such as Singapore and Hong Kong and as a heritage/community language in the diasporas across the world. Teaching to foreigners in China can be traced back to the Tang dynasty from the seventh to ninth centuries (Xing, 2006). The teaching of Chinese in schools and universities began over a century ago being introduced at Yale in 1871 and in London at the School of Oriental Arabic and Semitic Studies (SOAS) in 1917. The students were mainly missionaries or sinologists. Schools started by parents and communities to maintain and develop Chinese in the diaspora date back to the immigration of labourers to North America and Australia in the 1800s (Yang, 1996; Zhou and Li, 2003). It wasn’t until the 1940s, however, that the teaching of Chinese as a modern/foreign language starting moving beyond the universities. After the Second World War the numbers of learners in universities underwent rapid expansion. In the United States this was because of the need by the army and later the Peace Corps for trained interpreters. The past decade, however, has seen rapid expansion in the teaching of Chinese worldwide. The growing US-China relationship has led to the expansion of Chinese programs in the United States with Chinese language programs now in over 500 schools and universities. In France over 152 universities and colleges have Chinese programs and there are more programs

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also in Japan, Korea and Singapore. In Australia 29 universities/colleges had Chinese programs in 2001 and there was a 60% increase in students between 2001 and 2005 (White and Baldauf, 2006). The promotion of Chinese has recently figured more prominently in school level language policies in North America, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore although the actual numbers are still to match policy goals. The picture is different in Asian countries such as South Korea, where more than 100,000 students are studying Chinese. The teaching of Chinese to foreigners in Taiwan has also expanded rapidly with some 190,000 foreign students in China and 10,000 in Taiwan in 2008 (Chen and Hsin, this volume; Ying, 2008). The teaching of Chinese in heritage/community language schools has always been strong. By 2000, there were 4.3 million Chinese Americans, 42% of whom were American-born (Zhou and Li, 2003). One study in the United States reported some 83,000 children learning Chinese as a heritage/community language in 643 schools. Another reported in 2004 that there were 270 Chinese schools registered with 36,000 students. Some 8,000 students in 38 Chinese community language schools have been reported in Australia. There are also Chinese school systems for diasporic communities in other countries such as France, United Kingdom and Japan. Another recent development has been the establishment of Confucius Institutes by Hanban (The Office of Chinese Language Council International) which was established in 1987. Since 2004 when the first Confucius Institute was set up in Korea, more than 375 Confucius Institutes have been established in 76 countries and regions around the world. According to Hanban, there will be a total of 500 Confucius Institutes in the world by the year 2010 (Hanban 2008). Confucius Institutes have become an important platform for teaching Chinese as a second language (CSL) and also a symbol of contemporary China, a global brand of the implementation of China’s soft power in the world (Yang, 2007). Research into Chinese began in Departments of Linguistics and Literature. There is a strong tradition of linguistics research in Chinese by key linguists such as Halliday (2006) who completed his doctoral studies on Chinese under Firth. The study of the teaching and learning of Chinese is, however, much more recent. The Journal of Chinese Language Teachers Association, established in 1966 in the United States, was the first professional journal. In China, there are now two journals, Shijie Hanyu Jiaoxue (Teaching and learning Chinese in the world) and Yuyan Jiaoxue Yanjiu (Language teaching and learning research) focusing on research into the pedagogy of CSL. Key research areas have been on teaching/learning issues, technology use in teaching, learning characters and assessment (Xing, 2006).

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Emerging Trends: Diversity This section examines two seemingly contradictory trends which are emerging from the research into the growth of Chinese as a second/additional language education in the past decade. On the one hand, the multiplicity of contexts of teaching/learning Chinese has led to a great diversity in the learners themselves and their identities, curriculum and approaches to teaching. On the other hand, there is the shift towards Mandarin and Putonghua as the prestigious and standard language of use and of education and the shift to greater reliance on China PRC through its support for curriculum, teaching and research with initiatives such as the Confucius Institutes. Paralleling this has been the growth of what has been called a ‘transnational global Chinese culture’ as a result of the impact of developments in the internet (Yang, 2003). The population of the diaspora has traditionally been diverse, but this has grown in the past decades. Cantonese is widely spoken in the diaspora in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Vietnam; Hokkien in Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia and Malaysia; Teochiu in Thailand. Mandarin speakers, however, have formed a large percentage of recent migrants to North America, Europe and Australasia. In Australia, Cantonese speakers increased by 26% but Mandarin speakers by 68% between the 1991 and 1996 census (Clyne and Kipp, 1997). Chinese-speaking groups have differing profiles in terms of language loss and maintenance. In Australia, for example, the shift of Chinese speakers to English is generally low, but for those born in Hong Kong it is three times higher than for those born in Taiwan or China. Many studies have investigated the range of identities adopted by learners (Brown, 2004; Tse, 2000). Lee (2002) found much intra-group differences in Chinese-American teenagers but positive correlation between students’ language/cultural identity and academic achievement. Those with higher academic achievement had greater experience and interest in developing bilingualism and biculturalism. Even in contexts such as Taiwan, studies have documented greater diversity. In Taiwan, Hokkien and other dialects have gained higher profile and media presence since restrictions were lifted (Bradley, 1992; Brown, 2004; Sandei et al., 2006). Developments in places such as Singapore indicate that learners from other backgrounds are also learning Chinese: Indian and other nonChinese background parents have been sending their children to learn Chinese (Wee, 2003). In community language/heritage language schools in the United States and Australia there are adoptees, children from mixed

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marriages and children from other minority backgrounds. The reasons for learning are also diverse. Whereas traditionally school and university teaching of Chinese as a ‘foreign’ language relied on the grammar/translation approach and had as its goal the focus on reading/writing and study of literature, there is now a diversity of learners and goals. Universities and schools have ‘background’ speakers with widely varying levels of proficiency. Students may be studying Chinese for vocational or travel reasons, cultural/ heritage or academic/interest reasons or for combinations of these. The teaching/learning of Chinese in schools is more challenging than for other subject areas with students placed somewhere on a continuum between native speakers and beginners and with varying proficiencies in the different macroskills. This has led to the development of different syllabus and curriculum (for ‘background’ and ‘non-background’ speakers in Australia) and specific purposes courses in ‘business Chinese’ or Chinese via the internet. The diversity in learners is reflected by the diversity in teachers with non-native speakers, those born in Chinese-speaking countries and those born in the diaspora from Mandarin or other language backgrounds. There have even been arguments for diversity within the standard itself. Bradley (1992) describes the differences between forms of Mandarin in Singapore (huayu), Taiwan (guoyu) and China (Putonghua) identifying different vocabulary (loan words and technical jargon), phonetic and syntactic differences and also the use of simplified or complex characters. Some have also posited more institutionalized and expanded domains for minority dialects in Guangzhou and Shanghai (Kalmar, 1987; Fu et al., 1988; both cited in Bradley, 1992).

Impact of Global Technology and the Internet Chinese is the main language, after English, used on the internet. Yang (2003) posits the rise of a transnational global Chinese culture through the impact of developments on the internet. He outlines three spheres of technology users: China/Taiwan/Hong Kong and Singapore; the diaspora; and individuals (such as teachers and journalists). Although the five main portal sites Yahoo! Sina, Microsoft, Sohu.com and Netease target these specific regional audiences, they are interlinked and rely mainly on communication in Mandarin Chinese. The top five sites have an audience of over 30 million in China and Taiwan. There has been dramatic growth in online Chinese language newspapers and magazines and in Chinese language

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bulletin boards. The bulletin boards are normally organized around thematic categories such as sports, music, education, politics and news. Chinese cultural spaces are flourishing on the Internet. These spaces are based both inside and outside China, yet technologically, and to a considerable extent socially, they are linked to global networks. These spaces are globally accessible, discourse in them flows globally, and publics are linked across national boundaries. (2003: 484) Yang does not argue for a homogenized notion of Chinese language and culture since the global internet is also a site for democratization and conflict. He does raise the issue that online global Chinese sphere provides the spaces in which meanings of being Chinese can be explored and in which Chinese speakers from different backgrounds can interact.

Growing Importance of Putonghua and Mandarin There is growing evidence for the shift to Mandarin from other dialects in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan (Sandei et al., 2006; Wee, 2003). Wee (2003) argues that Singapore government policy will lead to the adoption of Putonghua as the standard in school and community use. Sandei et al. (2006) found shift to Mandarin in Taiwan even among the young, despite government support for Tai-gi (Hokkien). They found continued language shift in urban areas with Mandarin becoming the mother tongue for children. There has also been a decline in the teaching of Cantonese in heritage/community language schools in preference for the prestigious Mandarin. How can these seemingly conflicting trends be understood? Appadurai (1996; 2002) describes globalization in terms of five dimensions, or landscapes, that cross borders and boundaries: ethnoscapes, mediascapes, technoscapes, financescapes and ideoscapes. Within these ‘scapes’ there is flow and tension, between the local and the global. The developments in technology, movement and migration and in international trade and finance all impact on the ways in which Chinese as a second/additional language is developing internationally. The teaching/learning of Chinese in its global context is influenced by all five dimensions as the learners and their identities and attitudes, the teaching curriculum and pedagogy, and status and perceptions of the language itself are all being affected by international changes or ‘flows’. There is emerging diversity in what is

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happening at local levels in Chinese: the experiences of specific groups in terms of language context, self-identification and therefore teaching and learning of Chinese. This parallels evidence for the growing importance of Mandarin and specifically Putonghua and attachment to more global notions of Chinese identity. These two are not contradictory but reflect the tensions in globalization.

Exploring the Issues The chapters in this book represent the first time that research into the teaching and learning of Chinese as a second/additional language in all its contexts has been brought together. Issues of commonality and difference in the field are explored. The teaching of Chinese as a heritage/community language has emerged as a key issue with the growth of the Chinese diaspora in Europe, the Americas and Australasia. With globalization and the socio-economic changes in China and Hong Kong, the pecking order of the different varieties of the Chinese language is changing among the British Chinese community. The traditional dominance of Cantonese is being replaced by Mandarin, while Hakka and Hokkien, both with significant numbers of native speakers, remain underrepresented. In Chapter 2, Li Wei and Zhu Hua address the effects of the changing hierarchies among the varieties of the Chinese language on the policies and practices of Chinese heritage language schools in Britain, on Chinese language education in Britain generally, and on the British national policies regarding community languages. Li and Zhu have drawn data from empirical observations inside the Chinese schools and communities, and offer a critical analysis of the tensions between ideologies and practices. The linguistic situation in post-colonial contexts such as Singapore and Hong Kong is complex, with a range of Chinese dialects spoken, the role of English, the presence of minority group languages mainly from the Indian subcontinent all overlaid by the growing importance of Mandarin Chinese. In Chapter 3, Tse and Tan explore the ways in which government policies have responded to the diversity and the impact of these policy changes on schools and classrooms. Their study reports an investigation of the experiences of primary school Chinese language teachers in Singapore about the efficacy of a program involving an innovative Chinese language curriculum with accompanying resources that set out to cater for the different needs of children with

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varying Chinese language skills and from different Chinese language home backgrounds. The program of differentiated lesson delivery was seen in action in three schools. Implementation of the program was observed in situ and discussions were held with the staff involved. Interesting comments were offered, the general sentiment being favourable. Difficulties in implementing the program are reported and suggestions for improvement are made. The ‘Biliterate and Trilingual’ policy in Hong Kong, introduced after the return of sovereignty to China in 1997 requires all students to be fluent in written Chinese and English and spoken Putonghua, Cantonese and English. In Chapter 4, Shum, Tsung and Gao explore the impact of the spread of Putonghua teaching and reports the changes of attitudes by teachers in Hong Kong. There has historically been a large South Asian minority in Hong Kong making up some 5% of the population. The communities traditionally relied on their home language and English, but since the handover in 1999, young people are faced with the need to gain high levels of fluency in both Putonghua and Cantonese to participate in the wider society. Chapter 5 analyses programs to improve the educational experiences and outcomes of minority students through the teaching of Chinese. More than 9% of the population of China and Taiwan or over 123 million people belong to ethnic minority groups with their own languages and cultures. The balance between the teaching of the majority language, Chinese and support for the minority language has been a constant issue underlying government educational policy and practice. Debates around bilingual education often focus on learners’ access to the majority language and whether education in the mother tongue can provide the educational outcomes needed for participation in the wider society. In Chapter 6, Gao explores bilingual education for ethnic Koreans as a successful example showing the role of Chinese language in Korean education. This chapter shows how bilingual education for Korean minorities have resulted in maintenance of ethnic language and culture along with upward social mobility and high level Chinese language skills. The issues of access and exclusion in the teaching of Chinese have only recently been explored. Bilingual education in separate schools has been the norm for many of China’s 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities since 1949. The shift in minority parental demand, concern at low educational outcomes of minority bilingual education combined with government concerns about separatism led to the development of mixed schools for Han Chinese and minority students. In Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous

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Region government policy is to merge all minority schools with Chinese schools. In Chapter 7, Tsung and Cruickshank based on case studies in two schools in Xinjiang, report on research which found the problem was not a conflict between the teaching of Chinese or the minority language or any problem inherent in bilingual education but rather the lack of resources and access to quality education in Chinese and the minority language. Teaching Chinese as a ‘foreign’ language has traditionally been the main area of research in this field with a focus on non-native speakers learning Chinese in China and the United States. The numbers of programs have increased exponentially since the 1990s. Lu and Zhao in Chapter 8 give a brief historical account of the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language during the last six decades in China and its status quo a number of aspects. They review the evolution of teaching methods and the curricula for different types of programs. Lu and Zhao describe in detail the developing of various tests, such as HSK, C-Test. They also discuss a number of issues existing in the field of teaching Chinese as a foreign language (TCFL). In Chapter 9, Zhou examines how globalization has changed linguistic ideology and linguistic order in the United States in the past half-century and how TCFL has been shaped by the evolving linguistic ideology and order there. His study uses a conceptual frame defining bi/multilingualism in the age of globalization as both a linguistic ideology and linguistic order. It analyses the role of Chinese as a foreign language in school curricula, the access to resources for TCFL, and American attitudes to and motivations in learning Chinese. This chapter also raises issues of teacher training, pedagogical approaches and textbooks. Zhou examines recent developments: evaluating the impact of Confucian Institutes approach to support teaching Chinese in the United States. It concludes with an evaluation of new trends and developments in TCFL in the United States. With the rapid growth in American interest in learning Chinese which has been matched in other English-speaking countries the shortage of qualified CSL teachers has become an urgent issue. Some fundamental considerations on Chinese teacher supply and training are discussed by Orton, Chen and Hsin in two chapters. Orton (Chapter 10) pointed out Chinese language pedagogy is comparatively underdeveloped and yet it is hard to find theoretically sound, innovative approaches and techniques which target the very particular and demanding learning challenges Chinese language and culture present for English-speaking students. Without the support of sound pedagogy, increasing the numbers taking up Chinese is likely to lead to huge attrition rates in a few years when students, discouraged by their lack of progress, decide to quit. Orton reports many

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trained Chinese teachers have taken only a generic modern language methods course, not one targeted to Chinese, hence even ‘qualified teachers of Chinese’ in Australia have only rarely ever been taught how to teach the specifics of tone or characters. She reports pedagogical weakness as a key factor effecting students’ progress in learning the Chinese language. Orton suggests that there be ‘concerted, sound and innovative development in pedagogy for Chinese and in education of teachers of Chinese’ (this volume). Chen and Hsin (Chapter 11) report on the development of CSL teacher training programs in Taiwan, review the current status of CSL teachers, and discuss the impact of the Certification Examination for Proficiency in Teaching Chinese as a Second/Foreign Language on CSL teaching training in Taiwan. The teaching of Chinese in the United States has crossed over 2 million, from a long neglected ‘less-commonly’ language, being brought to the US spotlight as a language crucial to the nation’s security and prosperity. For the first time in history, its prospect is in sight of being elevated to a ‘commonly taught’ language, the status long held by a few traditional European languages, such as Spanish, French and German. In Chapter 12, Yun Xiao reviews that while specific domains for learning Chinese are strengthening, such as the media and school domains, however, there is evidence of significant generational language shift from Chinese to English by Chinese immigrates in the United States. In Chapter 13, Scrimgeour discusses the issue and approaches to literacy development in Chinese second language classrooms and problems the Australian schools are facing in terms of teaching school students Chinese words. Research into Chinese second language reading acquisition suggests that learners initially acquire characters holistically, with little or no access to intra-character information to assist in identifying sound and meaning. Scrimgeour concludes that due to the lack of the resources providing sufficient exposure to the structures and features of the characters, school students can only rely to memorizing character form, sound and meaning as a whole, without significant increased metalinguistic awareness. The final chapter examines teaching Chinese in the international contexts and considers implications at the local, national and international levels. These implications link to the teaching methods, curriculum and assessment of teaching Chinese in the coming era. The research into issues of educational access/marginalization and of native/non-native speaker dichotomies, of resources, teaching training and teaching approaches has much to offer the field of language teaching research and applied linguistics.

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References Appadurai, A. (1996), Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Appadurai, A. (2002), ‘Disjuncture and difference in the global cultural economy’, in J. Inda and R. Rosaldo (eds), The Anthropology of Globalisation: A Reader. London: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 46–64. Bradley, D. (1992), ‘Chinese as a pluricentric language’, in M. Clyne (ed.), Pluricentric Languages: Differing Norms in Different Nations. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 305–324. Brown, M. (2004), Is Taiwan Chinese? The Impact of Culture, Power and Migration on Changing Identities. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Clyne, M. and Kipp, S. (1997), ‘Trends and changes in home language use and shift in Australia, 1986–1996’, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 18, (6), 451–472. Halliday, M. A. K. (2006), Studies in Chinese Language, in J. Webster (ed.), Collected Works of M. A. K. Halliday. Vol. 8. London: Continuum. Hanban (2008), viewed 20 December 2008, http://www.hanban.com.cn Lee, S. K. (2002), ‘The significance of language and cultural education on secondary achievement: A survey of Chinese American and Korean American students’, Bilingual Research Journal, 26, (2), 213–224. Sandei, T., Chao, W. and Liang, C. (2006), ‘Language shift and language accommodation across family generations in Taiwan’, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 27, (2), 126–147. Tse, L. (2000), ‘Effects of ethnic identity formation on bilingual maintenance and development: An analysis of Asian American narratives’, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 3, (3), 185–200. Wee, L. (2003), ‘Linguistic instrumentalism in Singapore’, Journal of Multicultural and Multilingual Development, 24, (3), 211–224. White, P. and Baldauf, R. (2006), Re-examining Australia’s Tertiary Language Programs: A Five Year Retrospective on Teaching and Collaboration. St Lucia, Queensland: University of Queensland Press. Xing, J. Z. (2006), Teaching and Learning Chinese as a Foreign Language: A Pedagogical Grammar. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. Yang, G. (2003). ‘The internet and the rise of a transnational Chinese cultural sphere’, Media, Culture and Society, 25, (4), 469–490. Yang, R. (2007), ‘China’s soft power projection in higher education’, International Higher Education, 46, 24–25. Yang, X. (1996), A View from within: A Case Study of Chinese Heritage Community Language Schools in the United States, National Foreign Language Centre Monograph Series. Washington, DC: National Foreign Language Centre. Ying, W. (2008), ‘Foreign student quota due to expand’, China Daily, viewed 24 December 2009, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008–07/29/content_ 6884445.htm Zhou, M. and Li, X. (2003), ‘Ethnic language schools and the development of supplementary education in the immigrant Chinese community in the United States’, New Directions for Youth Development, 100, Winter, 57–73.

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Chapter 2

Changing Hierarchies in Chinese Language Education for the British Chinese Learners Li Wei and Zhu Hua

Introduction Globalization, as a historical process, is by no means new. Yet the globalization process we are experiencing at present is unprecedented in scale and intensity, and driven by a complex combination of political, economic and technological factors, rather than simply by the flow of people, ideas and practices. Globalization affects the world in many different ways. The ongoing worldwide debate about climate change and the so-called credit crunch are just two of the examples. In this chapter, we aim to investigate the effect of globalization on language, with particular reference to the Chinese language. We will take as example the changing hierarchies among the varieties of Chinese within the overseas Chinese diasporas, especially the Chinese community in Britain. The effect of globalization on language can be considered from a number of perspectives, for example, cultural, informational, political, economical and ideological. Globalization has created more opportunities for contacts between different cultural groups and increased individual’s access to cultural diversity. There is the potential for the spread of multilingualism as a result of global contacts, although there is also evidence of rapid language shift towards national and international varieties at the expense of minority and indigenous languages. Nevertheless, the growth of crosscultural contacts has facilitated the advent of new categories of consciousness and identities which can be explored through discursive practices of individuals and groups. The ever-emerging new global communication technologies provide the opportunity, in principle, to transmit information in different languages. Whatever language one may speak, there should be increased access to information and knowledge to all. In practice, however,

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this may not always be the case, as some languages, hence communities, are advantageous over others. Politically, globalization makes more visible any abuse of individual’s rights, including the right to use whatever language one wishes. There are intergovernmental and international bodies offering support and protection of endangered languages and regulating language policies and practices, especially the policies and practices concerning the education and welfare of minority languages users. The economic effect of globalization on language can be seen through an increased awareness that languages are like currencies and different languages have different values and symbolic power on the global market. Ideologically, globalization has also changed the beliefs among language users of standard languages versus regional varieties, norms of using a language, and what a particular language can do for its users in terms of cost and benefit. We will consider in this chapter the effects of globalization on the Chinese language from these different but closely related perspectives. We will focus in particular on language education of the Chinese children in Britain. The structure of the chapter is as follows. We first outline some key background information of the Chinese language and the British Chinese community. We then describe the methods used for collecting the data for the present study. The main body of the chapter is devoted to discussions of data under three thematic headings: language as culture, not all varieties of Chinese are equal and the standard national language ideology. We conclude the chapter with a summary of the key findings of our study and by highlighting the points and directions for future research.

The Chinese Language and the British Chinese Community Chinese is often said to have over 1.3 billion native speakers, making it the world’s largest language. These 1.3 billion speakers are mainly in China, Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, but also in Chinese diasporas as far as Canada, New Zealand, Peru and South Africa. Yet, when we look at the specific languages and language varieties these people speak, we immediately realize that the Chinese-speaking communities are extremely multilingual and multicultural. Indeed, the Chinese language has always been distinguished by its high level of internal diversity, although all spoken varieties of Chinese are tonal and analytic. In mainland China, there are between 7 and 13 main regional groups of Chinese, depending on the classification scheme, of which the most spoken, by far, is Mandarin (about 850 million), followed by Wu (90 million), Min (70 million) and Cantonese (70 million).

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Most of these groups are mutually unintelligible. The international Organization for Standardization classifies Chinese as a macrolanguage with 13 sublanguages (ISO 639-3). Language standardization, which in the Chinese context includes the creation of a national language, has been one of the most significant nation building efforts ever since the First Emperor (221 BC–206 BC). In the early part of the twentieth century, a common language was created, based on the northern varieties of Chinese, especially that of the capital city of Beijing. Since the founding of the People’s Republic on mainland China, more efforts have been given to the promotion of Putonghua, or the common language, a standardized variety that has become the official language of China. The language standardization effort reached certain degree of maturity by the 1970s, with the widespread use of simplified characters in mainland China and the use of pinyin, the Romanization system, to teach Putonghua to learners. Nevertheless, diglossia, or even polyglossia, remains a common feature among Chinese speakers: it is common for a Chinese to be able to speak two or more varieties of regional Chinese together with standard Putonghua. In many English language publications, the terms Mandarin and Putonghua are sometimes used interchangeably. In fact, Mandarin refers to a broad category of northern varieties of Chinese, whereas Putonghua is the standardized variety that does not have a specific geographical affinity. Putonghua’s pronunciation and grammar are very similar to those of Mandarin, especially the variety spoken in and around the capital city of Beijing. As far as the overseas Chinese diasporas are concerned, the vast majority happen to be from three coastal provinces of mainland China, that is, Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan. These provinces are traditionally Cantonese-, Hokkien- and Hakka-speaking, hence the prominence of these varieties among the overseas Chinese communities. The use of Chinese in the Chinese diasporas is determined by a large number of factors, including the migrant ancestors’ origin and time of migration, assimilation through generational changes and official policies of their country of residence. The degrees of language maintenance (of regional and local varieties of Chinese) and language shift (to the standard and national languages) vary greatly from one community to another. One noticeable change in the past 20 years has been the increase of Putonghua-speaking Chinese among the new arrivals and of Putonghua classes for overseas Chinese children across the globe. In Britain, the Chinese are one of the largest and longest-established immigrant communities. The British Chinese community website (www. dimsum.co.uk) reports that the Chinese community is the fastest growing

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non-European ethnic group in the United Kingdom. It has an annual growth of approximately 11%. In 2006, the estimate was 400,000 Chinese people in total. The majority of the British Chinese have close connections with former British colonies, especially Hong Kong, and other Southeast Asian countries where there are large concentrations of Chinese people. People from mainland China and Taiwan and their descendants constitute a relatively minor proportion of the British Chinese community, although the most recent and ongoing growth of the British Chinese community is largely due to the increased number of mainlanders. As a result, the vast majority of the British Chinese use Cantonese as the first or home language. According to the website ethnologue.com, Cantonese is spoken by 300,000 British Chinese as a primary language, while 10,000 speak Hakka and 6,000 speak Hokkien. Approximately 12,000 are believed to be Mandarin Chinese speakers, although the number may be significantly more if the Chinese students and other professionals who are in the United Kingdom temporarily are also included. Many of them speak Mandarin as a second or third, rather than the first, Chinese variety. The proportion of British Chinese people who speak English as a first or secondary language is unknown (Li, 2007). Compared to most ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom, the Chinese tend to be more widespread and decentralized. However, significant numbers of British Chinese people can be found in major cities such as London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow, Cardiff and Belfast. Chinese community organizations are often found in these large urban centres. Most of them are townsmen associations. A significant community organization is the Chinese complementary schools. They are voluntary organizations, run by and for the Chinese communities whose principal objective is to transmit the Chinese language and culture to the British-born generations. They are similar to the heritage language schools in the United States. According to the UK Federation of Chinese Schools and the UK Association for the Promotion of Chinese Education, the two largest national organizations for Chinese complementary schools, there are over 200 Chinese complementary schools in the United Kingdom. They are part of a major socio-political and educational movement in the United Kingdom for nearly half a century, which sought to complement mainstream schooling with weekend sessions on specific topics, mostly language and literacy related, for children of minority ethnic and disadvantaged communities. Complementary schools have attracted public debates vis-àvis government’s involvement in educational management, and challenged

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the dominant ideology of uniculturalism in Britain. Elsewhere, we discussed the history and ideologies concerning the complementary schools in the country (Li, 2006).

Methodology: Observations in Chinese Complementary Schools and Ethnographic Interviews The data we use for the discussion in the present chapter come from structured observations in a number of Chinese complementary schools in London and Newcastle upon Tyne and a series of ethnographic interviews we conducted with teachers, parents and pupils associated with the schools. The main part of the fieldwork was carried out between 2007 and 2008, as a follow-up to a major comparative study of complementary schools in four minority ethnic communities in Britain – Bangladeshi, Chinese, Gujarati and Turkish (see Creese et al., 2008 for summary of the larger study). In the earlier, larger project, we focused on the multilingual practices in these schools. We argued that the complementary schools often promote a monolingual policy that the pupils are not allowed to use their English during the schools hours. We examined in detail how the pupils attending the complementary schools contest the monolingual ideologies through their multilingual practices (Li and Wu, 2009). As a follow-up to the larger study, we visited three Chinese schools in London (one Mandarin/Putonghua school and two Cantonese schools) and two in Newcastle (one Mandarin/Putonghua school and one Cantonese school), observed a variety of activities during school hours, made extensive field notes and interviewed 12 teachers (9 female, 3 male; 7 in London, 5 in Newcastle), 14 parents (8 female, 6 male; 9 in London, 5 in Newcastle) and 11 pupils (6 girls, 5 boys; 7 in London, 4 in Newcastle). Seven of the adults come from regions of China where northern varieties of Chinese are spoken. The interviews were tape-recorded. The recordings were then reviewed and detailed notes on the contents were made. Sections of the interviews were transcribed and translated for the purpose of this chapter. As characteristic of ethnographic interviews (Spradley, 1979), no fixed questions were posed to all the interviewees. Instead, four broad sets of topics were introduced by the interviewers (the authors of the present paper) on (1) the interviewees’ sociolinguistic background and everyday linguistic practices; (2) their views on standard Chinese and the relationship between Putonghua and other varieties of Chinese; (3) the

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importance of knowing the Chinese language by overseas Chinese children who are born and brought up overseas; and (4) changes in the overseas Chinese communities. In effect, the interviews were open discussions around these topics, and the objective was to obtain some insights into the interviewees’ perspectives on these issues. The interviews with the adults were conducted in Chinese, with occasional codeswitching into English. The interviews with the children were a mixture of English and Chinese. Below we discuss the interviews as well as our observations along a number of themes as they emerged from the data.

Language as culture One of the recurring themes in the interviews was the importance of preserving the traditional Chinese culture among the diasporic communities, especially among the new generations of Chinese children. As to what the traditional Chinese culture means, parents, teachers and children alike repeatedly referred to filial piety, extended family and emphasis on learning as core cultural values. With regard to learning, it seems that language has a particular significance to the Chinese, as one of the parents told us: (1) 㽕ពЁ೑᭛࣪ህϔᅮ㽕ពЁ᭛DŽЁ೑ᄫ䛑ⳟϡពˈᗢМ㛑ពЁ೑᭛ ࣪˛៥ӀЁ೑ҎӴ㒳ϞᡞϡពЁ᭛ⱘҎিþ᭛Ⳇÿˈህ‫ⵢڣ‬ᄤϔ ḋDŽгিҪþ≵᭛࣪ÿDŽ þ᭛Ⳇÿᔧ✊гህ≵᭛࣪њDŽ ‘If you want to understand the Chinese culture, you must understand the Chinese language. If you can’t read Chinese characters, how can you understand the Chinese culture? Traditionally we Chinese call those who can’t read “word blind” (illiterate), like blind men. Also call them “uncultured”. Illiterate people are of course uncultured.’(Parent 10) This view is echoed by the teachers, as the following remark illustrates: (2) Ё೑ⱘ᭛ᄫग़৆ᙴЙˈ㗠Ϩ䴲ᐌ᳝ᛣᗱDŽ䞠䖍᳝ᕜ໮᭛࣪៤ߚDŽ៥ Ӏ೼ᬭⱘᯊ‫ˈ׭‬ϡᰃা೼ᬭᗢМ䇏ᗢМ‫ˈݭ‬㗠ᰃ㽕ᬭҪӀ݊Ёⱘ᭛ ࣪៤ߚǃ‫݌‬ᬙㄝㄝDŽ ‘The Chinese characters have a very long history and are full of meaning. There is a cultural element in them. When we teach, we are not only teaching how to read or write the characters, but also teaching them the cultural elements and allusion.’ (Teacher 6)

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It is certainly the case that the Chinese complementary schools spend most of the teaching and learning hours on the Chinese characters. The children learn about Chinese history and traditional folk stories through the learning, often by rote, of the written characters. It is also true that the Chinese language, especially the written Chinese characters, is often used as cultural symbols in domestic and public displays and decorations. Nevertheless, the association between language and culture in the view of the Chinese goes much deeper; it is related to the overseas Chinese views of their identity and the position they hold in society. One of the parents we interviewed made the following remark:  ढҎ೼䖭䞠㹿ⳟ԰ᰃᇥ᭄⇥ᮣDŽ݊ᅲ៥Ӏϡᰃᇥ᭄ˈढҎ䘡ഄ䛑 ᳝DŽϪ⬠ϞѨߚПϔˈ⫮㟇ಯߚПϔˈ䛑ᰃढҎˈ䛑䆆Ё೑䆱DŽ៥ ӀᗢМᰃᇥ᭄˛ৃᰃ೼䖭䞠៥Ӏᰃ໪ᴹⱘǃϡϔḋDŽ៥Ӏ䆆ⱘ䆱੠ Ҏᆊϡৠˈ‫ݭ‬ᕫᄫгϡϔḋDŽ ‘The Chinese are seen as a minority here. In fact, we are not a minority. The Chinese are everywhere. One in five, even one in four, of the world’s population is Chinese and speaks Chinese. How can we be minority? But we come from outside and are different. The language we speak is different from theirs and the words we write are different too.’ (Parent 7) Comments such as the following are repeated by many of the people, including the children, whom we interviewed:  ढҎⱘᇣᄽᄤᑨᔧᄺЁ᭛ˈϡពЁ᭛ᗢМⶹ䘧ԴᰃढҎ˛ ‘Chinese children must learn Chinese. How can you be Chinese without knowing the Chinese language?’ There is a general feeling among the Chinese that knowing the language is integral to being Chinese. It also marks them out from other social groups in the British society. Our finding is consistent with that of Francis et al. (2009) who discuss the issue of language as identity with reference to Chinese pupils in complementary schools in the United Kingdom.

Not all Chinese languages are equal While all the interviewees agree that the Chinese language is an important cultural symbol for them, they do not see all varieties of Chinese as equal.

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Rough dialects A few terms emerged during our interviews referring to regional varieties of Chinese: jiaxiang hua (ᆊе䆱), fangyan (ᮍ㿔), tu hua (ೳ䆱). Jiaxiang hua can be translated literally as ‘hometown speech’; fangyan, ‘regional speech’; and tu hua, ‘rough language’. While the first two terms link the speech to geographical places, the last one, tu hua is evaluative. In fact, on a number of occasions, our interviewees expressed the view that regional varieties are ‘rough’, ‘uncultured’, and represent rural or old-fashioned values, as the following extract illustrates.  ៥䛑ᕜᇥ䆆ᆊе䆱೼໪䖍DŽᆊ䞠ҎৃҹⱘˈԚᰃ೼໪䖍៥䛑ᕜᇥ 䆆DŽ៥Ӏⱘ䙷Ͼᆊе䆱ᕜೳⱘDŽ៥㽕䆆㒭Դ਀ԴӮュⱘDŽডℷԴг ਀ϡពDŽᕜ䲒਀ⱘDŽ ‘I rarely speak hometown language in public. OK with family members, but I rarely speak it outside the family. Our hometown language is very rough. You will laugh if I spoke it to you. Anyway you won’t be able to understand it. It sounds bad.’ (Parent 5) These terms are also used in the classroom where Putonghua is often referred to as the national language or standard language, and regional varieties of Chinese are referred to as jiaxiang tu hua (ᆊеೳ䆱˗hometown rough speech), or difang tu hua (ഄᮍೳ䆱˗regional rough speech). Such usage seems to have had some effect on the children attending the Chinese schools, as one of them said, (6) Dialects are not standard. So they shouldn’t be used at school, or at work. It sounds uneducated if you speak dialect. (Child 6) When asked why regional varieties sounded rough and uncultured, our interviewees often evoke the notion of intelligibility. They seem to believe that regional varieties are more difficult to be understood than the standard variety. When it is pointed out to them that one of the reasons why the standard variety is understood by more people is because it is widely taught in schools and used in the media, they still insist that regional varieties are too rough to be used in the general public domain. The following exchange between an adult interviewee (T7) and one of the interviewer (I2) illustrate the point.

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(7) T7: ೼ᄺ᷵䞠៥Ӏϡᬭᮍ㿔DŽгᕜᇥ䇈DŽ಴Ў៥Ӏ䆆ⱘ䛑ϡৠˈ ਀ϡពDŽ ‘Regional languages are not taught in the school. They are rarely spoken. Because we speak different regional languages and don’t understand each other.’ I2: ৃᰃབᵰԴᬭҪӀˈӮϡӮৃҹ਀ព˛ ‘But if you teach them, wouldn’t it be possible to understand?’ T7: ᄺ᷵䞠ᰃϡᬭᮍ㿔ⱘDŽᮍ㿔਀䍋ᴹˈᗢМ䇈ਸ਼ˈϡ໾᳝᭛ ࣪DŽ៥Ӏⱘᄺ᷵㽕ᬭ᱂䗮䆱ˈϡᬭᮍ㿔DŽ ‘Regional languages are not taught in the school. They sound, how do I say it, uncultured. Our school teaches Putonghua, not regional languages.’ I2: 䙷МབᵰҪӀ೼ℷᓣⱘഎড়䇈ᮍ㿔ᗢМࡲ˛ ‘So what happens if they use regional languages in formal contexts? ‘ T7: ៥Ӏᰃϡ哧ࢅ䆆ᮍ㿔ⱘDŽԴ೼ᆊ䞠䆆៥Ӏᔧ✊≵ࡲ⊩ㅵњˈ Ԛ೼݀݅എড়䆆ᮍ㿔ϡ໾ড়䗖DŽ ‘We don’t encourage the use of regional languages. We can’t control it if you can use them at home. But in public, it is not appropriate to use regional languages.’ In the Cantonese schools, the language is widely spoken in all domains. Nevertheless, all the Cantonese schools also teach Mandarin or Putonghua and the pupils are encouraged to use them as often as possible. We will return to this point later in the discussion.

‘Better’ Cantonese There seems to be a perceived hierarchy among the different regional varieties of Chinese. Many of the interviewees thought Cantonese is ‘better’ than Hakka or Hokkien. When asked what exactly they meant by ‘better’, pragmatic functions in the Chinese diasporic communities and association with Hong Kong seem to be the main defining factors.

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(8) 䆆ᑓϰ䆱ⱘҎᕜ໮ਔʽ䖭䞠໻䚼ߚढҎ䛑ᰃᑓϰҎˈӮ䆆ᑓϰ 䆱DŽ䛑ᰃҢ佭␃䖛ᴹⱘˈ䛑䆆ᑓϰ䆱଺DŽ ‘There are many Cantonese speakers. Most of the Chinese here are Cantonese and speak Cantonese. They come from Hong Kong and all speak Cantonese.’ (Parent 14) (9) Ё令佚੠ଚᑫ䛑䆆ᑓϰ䆱DŽӮᑓϰ䆱↨䕗ᮍ֓DŽ ‘In most Chinese restaurants and shops, Cantonese is spoken. It is very convenient to be able to speak Cantonese.’ (Teacher 2) (10) 䖭䞠ᕜ໮Ҏ䛑ᰃ佭␃ᴹⱘˈ佭␃䆆ᑓϰ䆱DŽԴ㽕ⳟ佭␃⬉ᕅǃ਀ 佭␃℠ˈ䛑ᰃᑓϰ䆱ⱘ᳔໮଺DŽ ‘Many people here are from Hong Kong. Cantonese is spoken in Hong Kong. If you want to watch Hong Kong films and listen to Hong Kong songs, most of them are in Cantonese.’ (Teacher 4) (11) ‘I quite like Canton pop. We have Hong Kong TV at home. Knowing Cantonese is quite useful.’(Child 1) (12) ‘We used to speak Hakka at my family. Or my mom did. My grandma only spoke Hakka. But when she died, we don’t need to speak Hakka anymore.’(Child 10) Many interviewees, including those who speak Hakka, thought Hakka was ‘not very useful’. Similar attitude was expressed towards Hokkien. But when asked why they felt that way, the following are typical responses: (13) ᕜᇥ᳝Ҏ䆆ᅶᆊ䆱DŽᅶᆊҎᕜ໮଺DŽԚᰃ⦄೼䛑䆆៪㗙ᰃᑓϰ䆱 ៪㗙ᰃ᱂䗮䆱DŽ ‘Very few people speak Hakka. There are many Hakka people. But most people now speak either Cantonese or Putonghua.’ (Parent 3) (14) ⬉㾚া᳝ᑓϰ䆱ⱘˈг᳝೑䇁ⱘ଺DŽৃᰃ≵᳝ᅶᆊ䆱ⱘDŽ ‘TV programs are only in Cantonese. Sometimes also in Mandarin. But nothing in Hakka.’ (Parent 8)

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(15) ⽣ᓎҎ↨䕗ᇥˈ⫼໘ϡ໻DŽ ‘There are very few people from Hokkien. It’s not been useful.’ (Teacher 5)

There seems to be a high level of self-censorship as to which variety should or should not be used in public or learned by the young, and people, including speakers of the less favoured varieties themselves, try and find reasons for the censorship when in truth there is no good justification.

Northerners speak standard; Southerners are rich A rather intriguing issue emerged during our discussions which related to the fact that some small groups of Chinese from specific parts of China have managed to maintain their regional languages very well, in contract to the Hakka speakers, for instance. Somehow our interviewees seemed to believe that certain groups were ‘entitled’ to language maintenance more than other groups. The following exchange refers specifically to people from Shanghai. (16) P12:Ϟ⍋Ҏϡᜓᛣ䆆߿ⱘ䆱ˈህ㽕䆆Ϟ⍋䆱DŽ⡍߿᳝ᛣᗱDŽ ‘People from Shanghai don’t like to speak other languages. They only want to speak Shanghainese. Very interesting.’ 

I2:Դ㾝ᕫ䙷ᰃЎҔМ˛

‘Why do you think that is the case?’ P12:Ϟ⍋ᨽⱏଞʽ໻䛑Ӯ௯DŽϞ⍋Ҏህ↨䕗㞾䈾DŽ߿ⱘҎг㾝ᕫ Ϟ⍋དDŽ ‘Shanghai is modern. It’s cosmopolitan. Shanghai people are very proud of themselves. Others also think Shanghai is good.’ I2:䙷МᑓᎲϡᰃгᕜᨽⱏ৫˛ ‘But isn’t Guangzhou (Canton) modern too?’

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Teaching and Learning Chinese in Global Contexts P12: ৃᰃ↨䍋Ϟ⍋䖬ᰃϡ㸠଺DŽ䖲佭␃Ҏ⦄೼г䛑㽕ࠄϞ⍋এ‫خ‬ ⫳ᛣDŽ

‘But not as modern as Shanghai is. Even people from Hong Kong want to do business in Shanghai now.’ There seems to be a general perception of the hierarchy among the different varieties of Chinese, with the northern varieties being closer to the national standard and southern varieties representing urban, modern values, as the following exchange summarizes: (17) P1: ࣫ᮍҎ䆆䆱↨䕗ᷛ‫ˈޚ‬᳈᥹䖥᱂䗮䆱DŽफᮍ䆱ϡ㸠DŽ ‘Northerners speak fairly standard, closer to Putonghua. Southern varieties are not.’ I1:Ԛг᳝Ҏ㽕ᄺϞ⍋䆱៪㗙ᰃᑓϰ䆱DŽ ‘But there are people who want to learn Shanghai dialect or Cantonese.’ P1: 䙷ᰃ㽕䌮䪅௯ʽԴ㽕ᛇࠄϞ⍋ǃᑓϰ‫⫳خ‬ᛣህ㽕ᄺϞ⍋䆱ǃᑓ ϰ䆱଺DŽᘏⱘᴹ䇈फᮍথሩⱘᖿϔѯˈ᳝䪅Ҏ໮ϔѯDŽ ‘That’s because they want to make money! If you want to do business in Shanghai or Canton, you need to learn Shanghainese or Cantonese. Generally speaking the south develops faster and there are more people with money.’ The differentials in economic and social development in China seem to have influenced people’s attitudes towards the languages spoken in different parts of the country, which in turn affected people’s attitudes towards language maintenance, language shift and language transmission across generations.

Standard language ideology Our interviewees expressed a strong sense that there is a need for a standard national language, which can be used as a unifying factor for the Chinese communities worldwide. Elsewhere we reported our findings from interviews with Chinese residents in Britain, Australia and Singapore, who,

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despite the diversity of their historical backgrounds and contemporary social positions, all believe that having a standard language, such as Putonghua, gives the Chinese a clear sense of cultural identity, and that the Chinese language has unique features that may give its users certain cognitive advantage (Li and Zhu, 2010). Our interviews with the parents, teachers and pupils of the Chinese complementary schools confirmed this popular belief, as the following example shows: (18) 㣅䇁г᳝BBC㣅䇁ˈ⊩䇁г᳝ᅗᷛ‫ޚ‬೑䇁DŽ᱂䗮䆱ᰃ៥Ӏⱘᷛ‫ޚ‬ ೑䇁DŽЁ೑Ҏᔧ✊㽕䆆᱂䗮䆱DŽ৺߭ҎᆊᗢМⶹ䘧ԴᰃЁ೑Ҏ˛ Դৃ㛑ᰃᑓϰҎǃϞ⍋Ҏǃ࣫ҀҎˈԚԴ㽕ᰃЁ೑Ҏህ㽕䆆᱂䗮䆱DŽ ‘English has BBC English. French has its standard national language. Putonghua is our standard national language. Chinese people certainly should speak Putonghua. Otherwise how can people know that you are Chinese? You may be Cantonese, Shanghainese or Pekingese. But if you want to be Chinese, you need to speak Putonghua.’ (Parent 4) Our interviewees also seem to agree that Putonghua must be learned by the young. The reasons they give all point to the rising politico-economic power of mainland China, as the following two extracts illustrate: (19) ⦄೼ᕜ໮ᄺ᷵ˈ៥ᰃ䇈ᔧഄⱘ᱂䗮ᄺ᷵ˈ䛑ᬭЁ᭛ˈ᱂䗮䆱DŽᕜ ໮㣅೑ⱘᄽᄤ㽕ᄺЁ᭛DŽҹৢӮᕜ᳝⫼ⱘDŽӺᬺ᳝䆌໮݀ৌ䛑㽕 Ӯ䆆᱂䗮䆱ⱘҎDŽԴ㽕Ӯ䆆᱂䗮䆱ˈᡒᎹᆍᯧᕫᕜDŽ ‘Now many schools, I mean local ordinary schools, teach Chinese, Putonghua. Many British children learn Chinese. It is very useful in the future. London has many companies who need people speaking Putonghua. If you can speak Putonghua, it is very easy to find a job.’ (Parent 6) (20) ‘I don’t know if I will actually go to China and work there. But in twenty thirty years’ time, China will be very strong. Knowing Chinese will be very useful.’ (Child 8)

Simplified or ‘full’ characters; Pinyin or no pinyin Our interviewees seem to be aware of the differences of the simplified characters (ㅔԧᄫ) and the traditional characters, sometimes called ‘full’ characters (㐕ԧᄫ), as well as the existence of the Romanization system,

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pinyin (ᣐ䷇), although they seem less concerned with the historical contexts and political connotations of these systems. The simplified characters were introduced in mainland China since the 1950s as part of a language planning and modernization program. They are used in Singapore also. In the Putonghua schools in Britain, simplified characters are taught via using textbooks produced in mainland China. Most schools adopted these textbooks for purely pragmatic reasons, as they are provided by the Chinese embassy in the United Kingdom free of charge. The full characters are still used in Taiwan and Hong Kong and dominate the press of the Chinese diasporic communities. They tend to be taught in the Cantonese schools, although many Cantonese schools also teach the simplified characters, especially in the Putonghua classes. The pinyin system was invented in mainland China to assist the teaching of Chinese especially to foreign learners. Taiwan has a different notation system which is not widely taught outside Taiwan. Other Romanization systems do exist for regional varieties of Chinese, but they are less known outside academic circles. Our interviews suggest that there is no clear preference for either simplified or full characters, or for pinyin. Different schools decide on their own policies almost entirely on the basis of what is available and what can be done easily. On the whole, simplified characters and pinyin are used in the teaching of Putonghua and full characters in Cantonese. One head teacher of a Cantonese school told us: (21) ៥Ӏᑓϰ䆱ⱘᬭᴤᰃҢ佭␃фᴹⱘˈ᠔ҹ≵᳝ᣐ䷇ˈг≵᳝ㅔ࣪ ᄫDŽ៥Ӏⱘ᱂䗮䆱ᬭᴤᰃռࡲ䌴䗕ⱘˈ᳝ㅔԧᄫ੠ᣐ䷇DŽ䖬᳝‫ܝ‬ ⲬㄝㄝDŽᇣᄽᄤ↨䕗୰⃶໮ၦԧDŽԚ៥Ӏা᳝᱂䗮䆱ⱘˈ≵᳝ᑓ ϰ䆱ⱘDŽ ‘Our Cantonese teaching material is bought from Hong Kong. It doesn’t have pinyin or simplified characters. Our Putonghua teaching material is given as a gift by the Overseas Chinese Office (of the Chinese government). It has simplified characters and pinyin. It also has CD and other accessories. Young children like multimedia material. But we only have it for Putonghua, not for Cantonese.’ (Teacher 1) As for the parents, most believe that it would be good if the children could learn both the simplified and full characters, as the following illustrates: (22) ㅔԧᄫ㐕ԧᄫ䛑ᑨᔧӮⳟDŽϸ⾡䛑Ӯ᳔དDŽ ‘They should be able to read both simplified and full characters. It is the best to know both.’ (Parent 9)

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This view is shared by parents of the Putonghua schools, who see full characters maintaining some use for reading newspapers and magazines from Hong Kong and Taiwan and historical texts. Surprisingly, nobody expressed the view that the full characters may be too complicated and difficult for the children to learn.

Summary and Conclusion In this chapter, we have reported findings from interviews with a sample of parents, teachers and pupils of Chinese complementary school in Britain, and discussed their attitudes towards different varieties of the Chinese language and towards language education of the British Chinese children. There seems to be considerable consistency across the sample in terms of their views on (1) the significance of the Chinese language, especially the written form; (2) the importance of having a national standard language; and (3) the internal hierarchies among the different varieties of Chinese. The Chinese language clearly has a special symbolic value to the Chinese people, perhaps even more so to the diasporic communities as they feel the need to maintain a distinctive cultural identity. This sense of identity may also have led to their strong belief that there needs to be a national standard language and that Putonghua seems to be fulfilling that role well. The adults all seem to be very keen on the children to learn Chinese, especially Putonghua, and the children seem to accept that knowing Chinese may help them in their future career. The most important finding of the present study is the changing hierarchies among the varieties of the Chinese language. Despite the fact that Cantonese speakers are the most dominant group within the diasporic Chinese communities, Putonghua is fast becoming the language that everybody wants to learn. Other varieties receive little popular or institutional support. This change of hierarchy is closely related to the globalization process which is affecting the Chinese communities as much as it affects other diasporic communities across the world. The rising profile of Putonghua as the politically and economically dominating language, coupled with the standard language ideology which seems to be shared by most Chinese people, presents a challenge to the Chinese diasporas, as it will no doubt impact on the communities’ internal cohesion, the education of the younger generations of the Chinese overseas, and the future contacts between the diasporas, mainland China and places of origins and ancestry. Whether the future for regional Chinese language varieties is as bleak as some of our

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interviewees’ comments seem to suggest is not entirely certain. One thing is sure, though, and that is the dynamics within the Chinese diasporas are changing and they are increasingly influenced by the rising power of mainland China and all the things that represent China, including its standard national language. The language as culture view expressed by some of our interviewees in the present study is one of the areas worthy of further investigation, as it has implications for education policy for the new generations of Chinese children, the development of cultural and ethnic identities of the young, and the cohesion of the Chinese communities. It would be particularly interesting to examine any changes of the view across different generations of overseas Chinese. In the above-mentioned study of multilingual practices in complementary schools of four ethnic minority communities in the United Kingdom, we revealed the tensions and conflicts between the parents and the children in seeing language as representative of traditional values or cultural heritage (Blackledge et al., 2008). The younger generations use their multilingual practices to construct and express their identities as multicultural individuals and contest the monolingual and unicultural ideologies which they see as being imposed on them by both the Englishspeaking and the Chinese-speaking communities separately. This is certainly a topic that invites comparative studies of different communities.

References Blackledge, A., Creese, A., Tas¸kın, B., Arvind, B., Shahela, H., Li, W., Vally, L., Peter, M., Wu, C. and Dilek, Y. (2008), ‘Contesting “Language” as “heritage”: Negotiation of identities in late modernity’, Applied Linguistics, 29, 533–554. Creese, A., Blackledge, A., Li, W., Martin, Peter M. and Lytra, V. (2008), Investigating multilingualism in complementary schools in four communities (ESRC, RES-000–231180), viewed 20 December 2009, http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ esrcinfocentre/viewawardpage.aspx?awardnumber=RES-000–23-1180 Francis, B., Archer, L. and Mau, A. (2009), ‘Language as capital, or language as identity? Chinese complementary school pupils’ perspectives on the purposes and benefits of complementary schools’, British Educational Research Journal, 35, (4), 519–538. Li, W. (2006), ‘Complementary schools, past, present and future’, Language and Education, 20, 76–83. Li, W. (2007), ‘Chinese’, in D. Britain (ed.), Language in the British Isles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 308–324. Li, W. and Wu, C. (2009), ‘Polite Chinese children revisited: Creativity and the use of codeswitching in the Chinese complementary school classroom’, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 12, (2), 193–211.

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Li, W. and Zhu, H. (2010), ‘Voices from the diaspora: Changing hierarchies and dynamics of Chinese multilingualism’, International Journal of the Sociology of Language. Spradley, J. (1979), The Ethnographic Interview. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Janovich.

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Chapter 3

Catering for Primary School Pupils with Different Chinese Language Proficiencies in Singapore through Differentiated Curricula and Instructional Materials Shek Kam Tse and Wei Xiong Tan

Introduction This chapter reports an investigation of the experiences of primary school Chinese language teachers in Singapore about the efficacy of a program involving an innovative Chinese language curriculum with accompanying resources that set out to cater for the different needs of children with varying Chinese language skills and from different Chinese language home backgrounds. Three-quarters of the population of the newly independent Republic of Singapore in 1965 were of Chinese ethnicity. Comprised mainly of immigrants and their descendents from countries such as China, India and regional countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, many languages could be heard on the streets and in Singapore schools. The economy of Singapore capitalized on its citizens’ ability to converse with local and multinational companies, and international trade and the attraction of foreign investments were eased by the command of English by many of its citizens. This facility with language was encouraged and Malay, Chinese (Mandarin), English and Tamil were taught in schools. This bilingual arrangement reflected the multiracial population and all pupils had to take their mother tongue and English as compulsory subjects in school. Bilingualism was regarded by the government as essential for Singapore’s economic and national future and it reflected the official aim of achieving ‘a cohesive multi-racial society with a national identity’ (Pakir, 2004: 263).

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This objective imposed fearsome demands on schools and a number of arrangements for educating pupils from differing language backgrounds have been tried over the years. Secondary schools were divided on the grounds of medium of instruction, and streaming was introduced. Since 1987, following the introduction of the national stream, all students have been taught English as the first school language in the classroom, except in a small number of Chinese schools. Although having English as the medium of classroom transactions in schools has facilitated communication between peers in the various racial and background language groups, it is feared that the reduced stress on the mother tongue may eventually threaten cultural values and even impact on Singapore’s business transactions with immediate neighbours. English has increasingly become the lingua franca in schools and its increasing predominance over other working languages has seriously affected the use of mother tongue languages in society. Although the Chinese community still comprises the majority of the Singapore population today, the use of Chinese dialects and Mandarin as the habitual home language has declined. The preferred social language spoken by the younger generation has shifted towards English, as this allows them to communicate with peers of a different ethnic background. In 2004, a survey by the Ministry of Education (MOE) found that the percentage of primary 1 Chinese students speaking Mandarin as the main home language had dropped below 50% (MOE, 2004). In other words, while the percentage of citizens using English at home and in society was increasing, the percentage using dialects of Chinese was decreasing. This trend worried the government, which prompted it to commission a searching review of the Chinese language curriculum and the way Chinese is taught in 2004. The Report of the Chinese Language Curriculum and Pedagogy Review Committee (CLCPRC), published at the end of that year, acknowledged the existence of a ‘generational shift in language use at home’. Reaffirming the importance of bilingualism, it asserted that, ‘while some individuals can achieve equal fluency in two languages, the norm is for individuals to be dominant in one language’ (MOE, 2004: ii). It was thus critical of the practice of undifferentiated, whole class teaching with all pupils engaged with the same lesson content as their teachers struggled to keep all the children at different levels of Chinese up to the planned learning schedule. Pupils of high ability and good Mandarin coped with ease, while those who only spoke a dialect of Chinese or were of low Chinese language ability struggled. To customize the learning of the Chinese language for students ‘with different home language backgrounds and aptitudes’ and to solve difficulties

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associated with teaching diverse ability students to learn Chinese, the CLCPRC (2004) recommended a ‘differentiated approach from the outset’. This manifests itself at primary school level in a modular system that is intertwined with differentiated learning objectives premised on ‘a natural progression in language acquisition’ (CLCPRC, 2004) from aural-oral skills in recognizing Chinese characters, to reading and to writing. Differentiated instructional materials have been designed for classroom use by the MOE to complement the modular system. The Plowden Report (DES, 1967) and the Bullock Report (HMSO, 1975) referred to differentiated lesson planning with reference to two dimensions. The first was to plan the delivery of content so that it was fed to children at a level they could understand and for which they were ‘learning ready’. The second was differentiation of subject content and its complexity into digestible quantities in the expectation of what children of different ability levels and temperaments would be able to absorb. The outcome of both forms of differentiation was hopefully that pupils at all language and ability levels would have their learning stretched. This chapter reports the outcomes of a study of how a differentiated approach to teaching the Chinese language to learners of diverse language backgrounds and competence is perceived and being implemented by teachers in Singapore primary schools. The goals of the research were to highlight issues facing teachers when planning lessons, to identify the inherent challenges and opportunities in implementing the curriculum, and the problems encountered in using government prescribed instructional materials.

Literature Review For many years, the differentiation of classroom tasks and lesson input to pupils of varying ability has been the focus of education policies and research in countries such as England, Canada and the United States. Taking ‘the form of different courses, pace or teaching approaches for different groups or individuals’ (Weston, 1998: 15), differentiation is seen as a strategy to provide equal or, as argued in some cases, relevant opportunities for students with diverse learning needs (Hart, 1996; Weston, 1998). In attempting to unpack the notion of ‘differentiation’, researchers have uncovered the complexities and dilemmas inherent in its meaning (Bearne, 1996). Montgomery (1998) argues that differentiation in practice can be organized under two main headings: ‘structural’ approaches that focus on

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subject matter complexity and ‘integral’ approaches in which the curriculum is individualized for the learner. From a structural perspective, the summary view that differentiation implies ‘imposition of different curricula for different groups’ (Simon, 1985) has been widely criticized. A major criticism is that focusing on the limitations of the individual suggests that differentiation is really about making children fit the system rather than ‘matching learning tasks to pupils’ (Hart, 1996). Bearne (1996) asserts that a ‘restricted view of knowledge as facts’ may lead to a simplistic form of stepped differentiation that does not justly serve children mastery of a foreign language: nor does it lead the teacher to ‘plan for growth of understanding’ (50). The tension between finding differences between pupils and providing access to subject matter for all has prompted researchers to focus on attainment mastery as a consequence of appropriately differentiated assessment (Hart, 1996). Weston (1998) has argued that, while the establishment of a national – and therefore common – curriculum in some countries has simplified the argument, it ‘has done little or nothing to resolve the debate about how this may be achieved’ (15). Moves towards progressive education in the West led schools to reject simple organizational solutions such as streaming, and instead focused on delivering the curriculum to the individual child or to sets of pupils of similar ability (Strandling et al., 1991; Weston, 1992). The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED) in England set out six criteria in its framework for the management of differentiation. The framework includes having a suitable assessment policy, targets and evaluation, curriculum planning linked to assessment information and target setting. Pupils’ motivation and ‘learning to learn’ capabilities are taken into account, and there are equal opportunities so that pupils with learning difficulties and special education needs have access to the curriculum on the same basis as their more intelligent peers (Weston, 1998). Incorporating differentiation in the curriculum is straightforward in the United Kingdom where schools enjoy a fair measure of autonomy over how the curriculum is to be delivered and over using different subject matter with different children in the same class. Since the Plowden Report (DES, 1967) UK schools have been encouraged to adjust provision and lesson content for children across the ability range, from the gifted to the slow learner. They have also been encouraged to take the different learning styles of pupils into account when planning learning activities. O’Brien and Guiney (2001) and Terwel (2004) stress interrelated factors that may impact on the learner: the cognitive, social and emotional characteristics of the child and the methods used by the teacher. Sims and Sims (2006) remind

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teachers about the importance of learning styles and presenting lesson content in a variety of formats to suit individual pupils, and the nature of teacher–pupil and pupil–pupil classroom interactions. Turning to the pedagogy used by teachers, the Bullock Report (HMSO, 1975) and Gregory and Chapman (2007) advocate a range of classroom teaching styles, from whole class teaching and small group teaching to individualized instruction. This not only involves the preparation of lesson material with different levels of conceptual difficulty and learning demand, but also involves carefully monitoring children’s learning and attainment and pitching lesson content at the stage where each child is at in the lesson, or at subject matter not securely grasped in previous lessons. Singapore has invested tremendously in the development of carefully differentiated curricula, instructional materials and appropriate teaching strategies in the learning of Chinese language. The intention is to cater for diverse needs of the pupils and to take account of the home background or Chinese dialect spoken at home by the individual pupil.

Methodology An in-depth qualitative, multiple case-study was conducted in 2008 and multiple sources of evidence were collected. The teachers in three schools were chosen for study, reflecting the diversity of school types in Singapore. Two were typical ‘neighbourhood schools’, that is mainstream government schools located in the heartland of Singapore, and whose pupils are mainly drawn from middle-class home backgrounds. One school (school A) has more than 50% of Chinese students who speak English predominantly at home, while the other (school B) has a majority of Chinese students from Mandarin-speaking family backgrounds. The third school (school C) is known for its exceptionally strong background in the Chinese language, and Chinese traditions and culture. Prior to the fieldwork, text analyses of official documents and instructional materials were conducted in an effort to obtain a clear view of the design of the curriculum and the instructional materials used in lessons. A focus group discussion was held in each of the schools, attended by the Chinese language teachers of primary 1 to 4 classes. The new curriculum had not been implemented at primary 5 and 6 at the point of this study. Lesson observations were also conducted to see how the curriculum was being delivered in classrooms. Data obtained from various sources and through different methods were analysed and categorized. Independent rating

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by extra observers was carried out to triangulate the data and ensure consistency.

Findings To present a holistic overview of the differentiation systems implemented in the three schools, the findings were categorized according to three sets of variables: the administrative arrangement of the modular system; the use and perceptions of the instructional materials; and the choice of pedagogy by teachers in the lesson. For each aspect, a brief description is provided, followed by cross-cases comparison of various subthemes derived primarily from qualitative data gathered from the focus group discussions.

Administrative arrangements for the modular system The modular system is designed to cater for learning diversity among students with different levels of Chinese language competence, family language background and starting points in mastering the Chinese language. All primary students have to take the ‘core module’, the main content or subject matter in the curriculum aimed at maintaining and safeguarding a ‘bottom-line’ in Singapore’s national standards of Chinese language teaching and learning. The ‘core modules’ take up 70 to 80% of the total teaching time, and form the basis of the Chinese subject paper in the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). The PSLE is a high stake national placement examination that all students have to take at the end of primary 6. In addition to the common ‘core module’, for the remaining 20 to 30% of teaching time, students with a weaker foundation in Chinese take the ‘bridging module’ (for primary 1 and 2) and the ‘reinforcement module’ (for primary 3 and 4). These modules help to scaffold learning of the language and prepare pupils for the learning topics in the ‘core module’ that follows. In contrast, students with strong ability and interest in Chinese language can choose to take the ‘enrichment module’, designed to extend and deepen their understanding of the subject. The remaining students take the ‘school-based module’, an assembly of topics designed by Chinese language teachers according to the specific needs of students in their school (MOE, 2004; 2006). It was found that all three schools adopted the modular system for the Chinese language subject. This was to be expected, considering that, at the onset of policy formulation, the modular system had been favoured over

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heterogeneous class arrangements due to a lack of confidence among many teachers in handling disparate learning diversities, as one head of school C’s mother tongue department who had participated in the MOE’s consultation process in 2004 pointed out. The schools differed in how they grouped students for different modules. A directive from the MOE indicates two arrangement models. The first is known as ‘pull-out’, in which a ‘common time-slot’ is set aside for bridging/ reinforcement, school-based and enrichment modules. Students from different classes are regrouped according to their language ability for this time-slot to experience extension of learning depending on the module they are grouped in. Students then return to their original classes for the core modules (MOE, 2004; 2006). Teachers from school A, which adopts this model, said that such an arrangement helped to reduce negative labelling effects on learners, and they believed that having stronger learners to guide weaker peers in core modules possibly resulted in ‘positive influence’ in terms of learning motivation and effects. However, due to timetable arrangement and resource allocation, some students had two Chinese teachers teaching them for the core module and during the ‘common time-slot’. This requires close coordination among teachers. In addition, the need to follow a similar scheme of work in the core module means that teachers of the bridging/reinforcement modules may need to rush through their teaching, resulting in inadequate learning time for learners requiring extra support in the lesson. Another model suggested by the MOE is known as ‘ability-banding’. In this model, students are banded on the basis of their initial language competence into ‘bridging/reinforcement classes’, ‘core classes’ and ‘enrichment classes’ during Chinese lessons (MOE, 2004; 2006). Schools B and C adopted this model. This model bears resemblance to the traditional streaming arrangement, leading to the unfortunate labelling effects that teachers view as ‘inevitable’. Most teachers from these two schools thus invested considerable effort in explaining to concerned parents the rationale of the modular system, and its key purpose of ‘allowing children to learn at their proximal level’ with opportunities to change track on the basis of their ability. Indeed, teachers of the bridging/reinforcement classes raised several examples of students who successfully moved to core classes at higher levels, emphasizing the importance of a supportive language environment at home, close guidance by teachers and tailored teaching strategies in the school. Notwithstanding the pros and cons of the two models, one issue that was raised by teachers from all three schools was the increased number of

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foreign children whose parents spoke little or no Mandarin, as well as children who demonstrated symptoms of specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia and autism. Under the modular system, these learners were mostly grouped under the bridging/reinforcement module which, as one teacher explained, was ‘designed primarily for “normal” local children from predominantly English speaking Chinese family backgrounds’. This led to a plethora of difficulties that influenced how teachers used and perceived the instructional materials, and the pedagogical strategies to use. Use and perceptions of instructional materials To complement the modular system, two sets of instructional materials (including textbooks, activity books and teachers’ guidebooks) were developed by the MOE and disseminated to schools for their use nationwide in phases, starting with primary 1 and 2 materials in 2007, primary 3 and 4 materials in 2008 and primary 5 materials in 2009 (MOE, 2004). One set of instructional materials was for the Chinese course experienced by the majority of primary school children; the other set was for the higher Chinese course, experienced typically by students with exceptional ability and interest in Chinese language (MOE, 2004). In line with the modular structure, every unit using Chinese textbooks comprises a bridging/ reinforcement section, a core section and an enrichment section, while that using higher Chinese textbooks only comprises a core section and an enrichment section (MOE, 2007). A structured text analysis of the learning objectives for each module showed a strong focus on the development of listening and speaking skills, and word recognition for the bridging/reinforcement modules; a keen focus on word recognition and reading skills for the core modules, incorporated with further development of aural-oral skills; and extended reading for the enrichment modules. Text analysis revealed that some of the characters and sentence structures to be learnt in the core module were included in the bridging/reinforcement module of the same unit, providing support to weaker learners through earlier and increased exposure to core learning points. The modules for each unit were related thematically. Also, for each unit, the content of the core section in the higher Chinese textbook is a combination of the core and enrichment sections of the same unit in the Chinese textbook (MOE, 2007). Teachers were asked how they used the instructional materials and for their feedback based on the experience of using the lesson materials. As noted in the text analysis, teachers generally interpreted the purposes of

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each module according to the language skills to be emphasized. For the bridging module, teachers from schools A and B said that students who were able to handle the content of the module demonstrated greater confidence and aptitude in meeting the expectations of the core module. However, teachers also observed that the instructional materials were ‘too difficult’ for some non-Chinese students, and for students with symptoms of dyslexia. School C, being steeped in Chinese language and culture, used the higher Chinese materials – without the bridging/reinforcement module – for all students. One teacher who had lots of experience teaching weaker students said she had contemplated using the bridging/reinforcement content of the Chinese textbook as supplementary learning resources for her class. At the other end of the spectrum, teachers felt that the reading passages of the enrichment module did seem sufficiently to engage students of higher calibre and that the thinking questions at the end of each passage helped stimulate creative thinking by pupils. A few teachers in schools B and C commented that the enrichment passages drew interest, even from students in the ‘core module’, who then took the initiative to read these passages in their free time. Although teachers acknowledged that such extended reading would be more effective with guidance, two teachers candidly admitted that they ‘sometimes neglected’ or ‘paid less attention’ to teaching this module, citing time constraint and students’ self-learning abilities as reasons for doing so. The core module, being the basis of the PSLE national examinations and the benchmark of national language standards, predictably drew a lot of comments from teachers in all three schools. In terms of comments about the core module’s ability to cater for learners with a range of language competencies, most teachers felt that the core module is pitched at a difficulty level suitable for the ‘average Singapore pupil’, but some teachers in schools A and B lamented the ‘over-demanding number’ of Chinese characters that pupils were given to recognize and write. They also said they needed more time to guide students in developing reading comprehension skills. At the other end, teachers from school C expressed concern about what they perceived as ‘too slow’ a progression in the development of writing skills at primary 3 and 4. Teachers generally acknowledged that no textbook, particularly one that is designed for use at a national level, can sufficiently meet the needs of all schools, classes and pupils. Criticisms of the instructional materials were balanced by positive observations, such as praise for the core passages as being ‘more engaging’, ‘more closely related to everyday life’, ‘having more

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room for deeper interpretation’ and for being ‘open-ended for the extension of learning’. Implicit in these comments was a general sentiment that teachers need to adapt instructional materials according to their students’ needs, coupled with appropriate pedagogical strategies that eventually ‘bring students into the context of learning’. Pedagogy In the discussions on pedagogy, teachers from all three schools typically raised the stimulation of learning interest as a fundamental aim which they hoped to achieve through their choice of teaching strategies. As one teacher put it, ‘at the very least, we hope students no longer come to class saying “I hate Chinese” ’. Notwithstanding the pressure teachers felt stemming from the need to finish the syllabus in time to prepare students for the forthcoming PSLE examinations, most teachers said that they try their best to engage students by encouraging them to speak up more: ‘Even if they give the wrong answers, I also praise them for trying.’ The general consensus that seemed to prevail among the more vocal participants in the discussions in all three schools was that this shift towards more dialogue and engagement with students called for a crucial mind-set change among teachers that defined ‘the spirit of the new curriculum’. Asked about their attempts to cater for individual learners in their classes, the responses of teachers across the three schools revolved primarily around the bridging module. A few teachers described how they tried to take account of each student’s family language background, as well as possible behavioural and specific learning needs such as ADHD, autism and dyslexia. They then tried to ensure that every child could understand classroom instructions and had the opportunity to speak in class. Teachers also seemed to display sensitivity in their efforts to boost confidence by giving positive feedback and rephrasing questions when students had difficulty understanding what they have been asked. Teachers also resisted using English in their lesson communications, although some added that they did so during the transitory phase (typically in the first two to three months). They also tried to refrain from code mixing once students had developed basic Chinese aural skills. When probed about possible differentiated instructional strategies employed in the core module (in the case of school A) and ‘core classes’ (for schools B and C), the teachers in school A said they had an acute sense of awareness of within-class learning diversities due to the ‘pull-out model’ they employed in the grouping of students. In contrast, teachers from the

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other two schools spoke little about diversity among learners in the ‘core classes’, indicating that the ‘ability-banding’ model helped narrow differences among learners within each class. The general sentiment expressed in all three schools was that it was ‘difficult’ to employ within-class differentiation with more than 30 pupils, compared to the bridging/reinforcement classes which usually had less than 15 pupils. Teachers tended to ‘pitch teaching at the middle range’ while giving due attention to weaker and stronger learners in their core classes. The former usually lacked confidence in class participation while the latter might already know what was being taught and needed to be ‘occasionally challenged to sustain their interest in learning’. It was noticed in the lesson observations that this was primarily done by employing questioning techniques that spanned different ability levels. For example, in one class in school B the teacher asked an Indian pupil who seemed distracted a relatively simple question that involved informational retrieval from the text passage, then directed a question which involved integration of information to a student who kept raising her hand whenever questions were asked. Although some teachers said they included components of pair work and group work in their teaching, they said that this was meant as a form of ‘cooperative learning’ and that they seldom deliberately arranged pupils to work together according to their language abilities. One teacher from school C summed up her impressions: ‘Most “good” teachers will try to pay attention to the differences among their students and attempt to take care of every single one of them. But to speak of systematic differentiated instructional strategies, I think, requires a lot of prior planning and . . . trial and error. We certainly need training in this area and time and space to try things out – though I wonder if this is possible under our current system dominated by the PSLE (examinations).’

Discussion and Conclusion Singapore’s approach to differentiation in Chinese language education involves the sensitive implementation of a language planning policy featuring a central curriculum that allows room for flexibility and adaptation at school level. The modular system, an administrative means of kick-starting differentiated teaching through organized grouping of students into three ranges (modules) of language ability, is more than a traditional ‘streaming strategy’. Through aligning ‘national standards’ via the core module, which sets the benchmark for the national PSLE placement examinations, and

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setting aside curriculum time for extending learning, depending on learners’ abilities, the system appears to boost Chinese language attainment and offer appropriate learning opportunities for all students. The key challenge, however, lies with the way in which schools are to realize the potential of the system. The evidence reported here is that there is as yet no consensus about the best model in terms of the mode of student organization. Some schools favoured having stronger students help weaker peers, while others are more inclined towards having students of similar ability grouped in one class for all modules so that teachers can teach at a pace that is relatively comfortable for the class. In terms of ease of resource allocation and coordination in teaching so that it is pitched appropriately, the ‘ability-banding’ model seems to be favoured over the mixed ability model. The key pitfall with the modular system is probably that it did not foresee the surge in non-Chinese foreign students taking Chinese as a second/ additional language in Singapore. Moreover, as weaker students are grouped into smaller classes, teachers have begun to appreciate more clearly the impact on teaching and learning of having pupils in the class with specific learning difficulties. In discussing these two contingencies, the researchers sensed feelings of anxiety and apprehension among teachers. It would appear that the resolution of these issues will require not only enhanced pedagogical knowledge and strategies by teachers, but possibly a coordinated response at higher levels of policy and curriculum planning. The modular system is further complemented by instructional materials designed by the same central curriculum planning agency that formulated the mechanisms of the modular system. As the text analysis shows, the instructional materials are designed based on ‘differentiated objectives’, which see language learning for different modules premised upon what the CLCPRC report as ‘a natural progression in language acquisition, beginning with developing the ability to converse in the language. Oral fluency is aided by the early acquisition of the sounds and tones of a language. Reading and writing skills are in turn aided by the ability to listen and speak the language’ (MOE, 2004: iii). In using the instructional materials and attempting to operationalize differentiated teaching for diverse learners, most teachers appeared to accept and embrace the ‘developmental view’ of language learning. Opinions about the differentiated instructional materials were generally positive, particularly so with regard to the quality of text passages in the core and enrichment modules. As was to be expected, teachers from different schools had varying views on whether the instructional materials were of an appropriate standard.

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In general they accepted the need to tailor and adapt materials to suit their pupils’ needs, even though they said they would be better at this with experience. The impression was that the standard set of differentiated instructional materials adopted nationwide played an important role in helping teachers operationalize the differentiated curricula in the modular system. It remains to be seen if teachers will, with more experience, acquire the ability to develop more of their own learning resources and unique school-based curricula to complement or even replace the current national instructional materials. As with all reforms, the fundamental key to successful educational change lies with the attitudes and beliefs of teachers, and whether they imbue their pedagogies with philosophies that resonate with the intention of policy makers and curriculum planners. As stated earlier, many teachers view the stimulation of learner interest as a primary focus of their teaching. Their responses reflect one of the major recommendations in the CLCPRC report: ‘for all Chinese Language students, the common denominator should be to enthuse them in learning Chinese Language, so that they develop an abiding interest in the language and culture well after leaving school’ (MOE, 2004: iii). Stemming from this view, it was observed that the teachers were beginning to show signs of shifting towards more engaging, learner-centred teaching. This was epitomized in the bridging/reinforcement modules, where teachers appeared to pay attention to every individual and focused more holistically on the needs of pupils beyond their language competency. They began to take account of the pupils’ learning motivation, self-confidence, behaviour and specific learning needs. This is presumably because, in the eyes of teachers, students in these modules appear more vulnerable to distractions and disengagement and require closer guidance in their learning. The smaller class size also made the individualizing of teaching and learning more feasible than in other modules. The impressions about the other modules was that the teachers made attempts to cater for within-class diversity, though few had the knowledge and expertise to strategically employ pedagogical strategies to cater optimally for individual learners through systematic differentiated instruction. In addition, the teachers also had a tendency to focus less on guiding more able learners, at times assuming that the aptitude for self-learning could be equated to the ability to do so. This is not always the case. It seems that there is room for professional growth in these two areas on the part of teachers. Catering for primary learners with differing Chinese language competency through differentiated curricula with accompanying instructional materials involves a high degree of coordination at various levels in the

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Singaporean education system. At the policy level, the CLCPRC report set out the ‘crisis’ of Chinese language education landscape and the intended goals of the curriculum review in clear, unambiguous terms, at times even avoiding the term ‘differentiation’ to temper debate at the rhetorical level. There is then the need for meticulous curriculum planning at the Ministry level before schools are able to start implementing and coping with the technicalities of the new curriculum. Such ‘engineered’ change has attracted positive results at the local level, with teachers adapting relatively well to new administrative systems, instructional materials, philosophy of language teaching and pedagogy. Nonetheless, as curricula seldom remain static, initial successes need to be consolidated and monitored to prevent the rejection of reform innovation and the reverting to former practices and situations. In the long run, the key challenge for Singapore’s Chinese language education is that of ensuring the endorsement of the change by the key stakeholders – schools and departmental leaders, teachers, pupils and parents. The hope is that they will be so convinced of the benefits that they themselves take responsibility for introducing learning opportunities that stretch the learning of students with diverse aptitudes and needs.

Acknowledgements The authors thank the MOE of Singapore for helping in this study, and the principal and the teachers of the cases for their participation and assistance in the study. We are grateful for Dr Terry Dolan for his input in this study.

References Bearne, E. (1996), Differentiation and Diversity in the Primary School. London: Routledge. Department of Education and Science (DES) (1967), Children and Their Primary Schools (Plowden Report). London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. Gregory, G. H. and Chapman, C. (2007), Differentiated Instructional Strategies. California: Corwin Press. Hart, S. (1996), Differentiation and the Secondary Curriculum: Debates and Dilemmas. London: Routledge. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO) (1975), A Language for Life (the Bullock Report), Report of the Committee of Inquiry Appointed by the Secretary of State for Education and Science. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. Ministry of Education (MOE) (2004), Report of the Chinese Language Curriculum and Pedagogy Review Committee. Singapore: Ministry of Education.

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Ministry of Education (MOE) (2006), Curriculum Directives for the New Primary Chinese Language Curriculum. Published policy documents for schools. Singapore: Ministry of Education. Ministry of Education (MOE) (2007), Chinese Language Textbooks for Primary Schools. Singapore: MOE, People’s Education Press, Panpac Education Private Limited. Montgomery, D. (1998), Reversing Lower Attainment: Developmental Curriculum Strategies for Overcoming Disaffection and Underachievement. London: D. Fulton. O’Brien, T. and Guiney, D. (2001), Differentiation in Teaching and Learning: Principles and Practice. London: Continuum. Pakir, A. (2004), ‘English-knowing bilingualism in Singapore’, in K. C. Ban, A. Pakir and C. K. Tong (eds), Imagining Singapore. Singapore: Eastern Universities Press, pp. 254–278. Simon, B. (1985), ‘Imposing differentiation in schools’, Education Today and Tomorrow, 37, 3. Sims, R. R. and Sims, S. J. (2006), Learning Styles and Learning: A Key to Meeting the Accountability Demands in Education. New York: Nova Science. Stradling, R., Saunders, L. and Weston, P. B. (1991), Differentiation in Action: A Whole School Approach for Raising Attainment. London: HMSO. Terwel, J. (2004), ‘Curriculum and curriculum differentiation’, in J. Terwel and D. Walker (eds), Curriculum as A Shaping Force: Toward a Principled Approach in Curriculum Theory and Practice. New York: Nova Science Publishers, pp. 33–50. Weston, P. (1992), ‘A decade for differentiation’, British Journal of Special Education, 19, (1), 6–9. Weston, P. B. (1998), Learning from Differentiation: A Review of Practice in Primary and Secondary Schools. Slough, Berkshire: National Foundation for Educational Research.

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Chapter 4

Teaching and Learning (through) Putonghua: From the Perspective of Hong Kong Teachers Mark Shiu-Kee Shum, Linda Tsung and Fang Gao

Introduction This chapter reports on the teaching and learning of Putonghua (the national language of China) during the last decade in Hong Kong. It focuses on teachers’ perspectives in relation to Putonghua in Hong Kong schools. By looking at the development of Putonghua teaching in a historical spectrum in Hong Kong, this chapter illustrates that the social, economic and political changes in the last decades have brought changes in the attitudes of teachers, parents and students towards teaching and learning Putonghua in Hong Kong. With the return of sovereignty to China, the language patterns in Hong Kong have changed from so-called biglossia, whereby Hong Kong Cantonese and English predominate, to triglossia, as Putonghua has become increasingly important (Adamson and Lai, 1997; So, 1988). There has been in the post-colonial context an official shift to a trilingual (Cantonese, English and Putonghua) and biliterate (Chinese and English) policy (liangwen sanyu). Language issues have been of signal importance, as they involve complex questions of empowerment, cultural integrity and identity. The linguistic shifts after Hong Kong’s return to China reflect the complexity between language and power. Language is not only a method of communication, but also a mechanism of power (Bourdieu, 1991). Language discourse is not simply about language, but is equally about much wider social processes and practices (Foucault, 1980). The decision about which language(s) should act as the official or dominant language(s) is dependent upon the power of dominant group(s), more or less at the expense of the rights of the dominated groups.

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Reintegration with China has raised both the value and the use of Putonghua associated with the national identity in Hong Kong, and this is reflected in the rising status of Putonghua as a subject in the school curriculum (Morris, 1992). Putonghua was included in the Hong Kong primary and secondary school curricula for the first time as a full elective subject soon after the signing of the Joint Declaration. The subject received a major boost just before the handover. In March 1996, the government announced that Putonghua would become a core (essential) subject in the nine years of compulsory schooling, from primary 1 to secondary 3, by September 1998 and that by 2000 Putonghua would have a teaching syllabus up to secondary 5. According to the Education Commission, new and in-service teachers are required to demonstrate their proficiency in Putonghua. These moves represent a dramatic change for Putonghua from a minor subject taught in less than half of the schools to a key subject taught in schools. Many scholars (e.g. He, 2002) believe that Putonghua should now, after Hong Kong’s return to China, be adopted as the medium of instruction. It has further been advocated that the use of Putonghua as the medium of instruction is able to promote the literacy and proficiency of Chinese language among Hong Kong students. It is thus recommended that the combination of Putonghua and Chinese teaching will help to solve the problem of curriculum design, create a Putonghua classroom environment, and eventually increase listening and speaking skills in Putonghua. According to a questionnaire conducted by the Curriculum Development Commission in 2002–2003, there were 31 middle schools and 40 primary schools adopting Putonghua as the medium of instruction in the Chinese subject. In 2004–2005, the number of middle schools and primary schools using Putonghua to teach students Chinese increased respectively to 53 and 60. According to another questionnaire conducted by the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR), in 2005–2006 the number of second and primary schools where students would learn Chinese through Putonghua was expected to reach 73 and 115 respectively. As we can see, the widespread promotion of Putonghua teaching in Hong Kong has gradually shifted from Putonghua as a language subject to being a medium of instruction for the Chinese subject in recent years. However, the main problems with Putonghua teaching include the following: inadequate curriculum periods, shortage of language environment, lower attention by teachers, students and parents to Putonghua, negative learning motivation of students and lack of resources (Chao, 2005; Chu, 2001; Ngan, 2007). Teaching through Putonghua has caused a wide echo in Hong Kong society. While research (e.g. Ngan, 2007) reveals that a majority of students

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and parents prefer learning Chinese through Putonghua in order to effectively improve the Putonghua proficiency of Hong Kong students, many studies point out that the current education system in Hong Kong cannot meet the target of teaching Chinese through Putonghua. The level of teachers’ Putonghua proficiency, the workload of teachers, the level of students’ Putonghua proficiency, and the language environment in schools and in society as a whole combine to influence the teaching of Putonghua (Tse et al., 1995). Furthermore, the shortage of qualified teachers is a serious impediment to the rapid expansion of Putonghua. The content and pedagogy of Chinese language and Putonghua in the Hong Kong curriculum are different. In comparison with Chinese language (Cantonese as the spoken form) as the mother tongue of Hong Kong students, Putonghua is gradually changing from a foreign to a second/additional language as the students’ exposure to the language in Hong Kong increases and is oriented primarily towards oral and aural aspects. The importation of teachers from the Mainland appears to be easier, but it is not currently a truly viable option, largely due to the lack of a system of accreditation by the Hong Kong authorities for Mainland teaching qualifications (Adamson and Lai, 1997). With a view towards self-sufficiency, the Education Department planned in June 1996 for large-scale, in-service teacher education program in Putonghua. Benchmark tests for potential Putonghua teachers in primary schools were also developed as a measure to ensure teacher quality (Chu, 2001). Since 2004–2005, new Putonghua teachers have to demonstrate their proficiency in Putonghua before employment. At the present time there are 6,700 Putonghua teachers who have reached the Putonghua assessment benchmarks. However, it is noted that the knowledge of Putonghua is not equalled by corresponding competence in teaching through Putonghua. In Hong Kong, the language teachers who have been trained through Cantonese generally have a problem with employing adaptive teaching methods in Putonghua classes (He, 1999). Teachers generally believe that they are not well prepared to teach Chinese through Putonghua. Some scholars keep an ambiguous attitude towards Putonghua teaching, which is considered to have a limited function in promoting students’ proficiency in Chinese (Wong, 1992). The following questions arise: whether in the last decade the situation for teaching and learning Putonghua is different; whether teachers have changed their perceptions; with the benchmarks obtained, how confident teachers are while teaching Putonghua and teaching through Putonghua; and what kind of supportive training teachers think is required while teaching through Putonghua. This chapter aims to address these questions.

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Methodology A questionnaire and follow-up interviews were conducted in this research. The questionnaires received were 168 from teachers in 23 schools, half of which (52.7%) were PMI (Putonghua as the medium of instruction): 57 respondents came from primary schools, and 111 came from secondary schools. The gender breakdown of the teacher respondents is 17.4% male and 82.6% female. A majority of teacher respondents (95.2%) are native Cantonese speakers in comparison with only 2.4% using Putonghua as mother tongue. Among the 168 teacher respondents, a little less than half (47.3%) passed the Putonghua LPAT (Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers). In sharp contrast to the percentage passing the benchmarks, 66.5% of teacher respondents indicated that they never taught Chinese through the medium of Putonghua. Rather, 52% respondents had more than 10 years’ experience of teaching Chinese through Cantonese. It was noticed that a certain number of teacher respondents had 1–3 year experience of either teaching Putonghua or teaching Chinese through Putonghua, which accounted respectively for 20.6% and 22.6%. A 70.2% of teacher respondents at the time of the survey were teaching Chinese through Putonghua. Centred on the main research questions, the survey was conducted with the teachers to obtain their attitudes towards Putonghua teaching and learning in Hong Kong schools. The quantitative research was also supplemented by qualitative in-depth interviews with a few of the respondents.

Findings Teachers’ attitudes towards Putonghua and learning With regard to the current situation of Putonghua teaching in Hong Kong, teacher respondents generally held positive attitudes (Table 4.1). It could be seen from the table that in response to all the questions asked (including Putonghua curriculum, teaching hours, assessment system, students’ beneficence in terms of communication ability, further study opportunity and employment chance) except for question h, more than half of the respondents provided positive perspectives. Question h, however, asked whether Putonghua lessons benefited students’ awareness of Chinese culture. Nearly half of the respondents kept ‘neutral’.

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Table 4.1 Situation of Putonghua teaching in Hong Kong

a. The outlines of the Putonghua programs are clear. b. The Putonghua textbooks in use are suitable. c. The Putonghua auxiliary teaching materials in use are suitable. d. Teaching objectives for Putonghua lessons are clear. e. The current number of Putonghua lessons is enough. f. The current assessment for Putonghua lessons is suitable. g. After taking Putonghua lessons, communication ability of the students is enhanced. h. After taking Putonghua lessons, students’ awareness of Chinese culture improves. i. After taking Putonghua lessons, students’ opportunity for further study increases. j. After taking Putonghua lessons, students’ employment chance increases.

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree

0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

7 (8.5%) 10 (12.2%) 12 (14.6%)

34 (41.5%) 27 (32.9%) 29 (35.4%)

37 (45%) 41 (50%) 38 (46.3%)

4 (4.8%) 4 (4.9%) 3 (3.7%)

0 (0%) 8 (9.8%) 1 (1.2%) 1 (1.2%)

7 (8.6%) 19 (23.2%) 6 (7.4%) 11 (13.4%)

25 (30.9%) 21 (25.6%) 34 (42%) 31 (37.8%)

45 (55.6%) 32 (39%) 39 (48.1%) 33 (40.2%)

4 (4.9%) 2 (2.4%) 1 (1.2%) 6 (7.3%)

0 (0%)

23 (28%)

38 (46.3%)

20 (24.4%)

1 (1.2%)

4 (4.9%)

15 (18.3%)

23 (28%)

36 (43.9%)

4 (4.9%)

1 (1.2%)

5 (6.1%)

19 (23.2%)

48 (58.5%)

9 (11%)

Source : Data collected from research.

The positive attitudes were also reflected in teacher interviews even though teachers interviewed considered the deeper level of Putonghua teaching as more or less problematic. According to one teacher interviewee who was teaching Chinese through Putonghua: I think that using Putonghua to teach Chinese in junior secondary is okay as the content is not that difficult. My school is advocating using Putonghua to teach Chinese. Two years ago, Chinese was taught using Putonghua for some classes in every form. I observe and realize that teaching Putonghua starting from junior secondary is acceptable. From my observation of my colleagues’ lessons, using Putonghua to teach Chinese

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with content not so difficult does not present a problem. But if the teachers want to teach something more sophisticated, the students could not discern the fine distinctions. (Teacher 1) A positive attitude was also observed with teachers’ attitudes towards the Putonghua curriculum and relevant teaching resources, including the support of ICT in teaching. One teacher interviewee remarked: The objectives of the Putonghua syllabus are clear. The auxiliaries of the textbooks [from Jing Kung publisher] are comprehensive as recordings and CD ROMs are included. The number of Putonghua lessons is optimum. It is around one to two lessons per week and it is easy to arrange activities and set goal for each lesson. Students could grasp the content and the teachers could teach easily. (Teacher 1) Nevertheless, respondents generally believed that PMI could improve students’ Putonghua listening skills, communication skills in writing and oral communication skills in Putonghua, even though they argued that it might become unhelpful in improving students’ reading ability in Chinese, building up students’ habit in reading Chinese books and enabling students to better understand Chinese culture (Table 4.2). Table 4.2 Views on using PTH to teach Chinese for teachers teaching Chinese in PTH

a. Improve students’ Putonghua listening skills. b. Improve students’ reading ability in Chinese. c. Improve students’ communication skills in writing. d. Improve students’ oral communication skills in Putonghua. e. Can build up students’ habit in reading Chinese books. f. Can enable students to better understand Chinese culture.

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree

0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

2 (4%) 18 (36%) 2 (4%)

5 (10%) 19 (38%) 19 (38%)

32 (64%) 11 (22%) 24 (48%)

11 (22%) 2 (4%) 5 (10%)

0 (0%)

4 (8.2%)

4 (48.2%)

34 7 (69.4%) (14.3%)

5 (10%) 4 (8%)

20 (40%) 19 (38%)

19 (38%) 15 (30%)

5 (10%) 10 (20%)

1 (2%) 2 (4%)

Source : Data collected from research.

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It was interesting to notice that teachers who were not teaching Chinese in Putonghua also indicated positive attitudes towards the influence of Putonghua teaching on students’ language competency (Table 4.3). One interviewee who was not teaching Chinese through Putonghua commented: When Chinese is first taught in Putonghua, the Chinese standard of the students normally would regress. But after several months, when they are adapted to it, their performance would improve . . . Students may not be willing to interact with teachers due to their unfamiliarity in using Putonghua. However, when they are accustomed to it, this shortcoming would disappear. (Teacher 2) Many teachers advocated the adoption of Putonghua as the medium of instruction in teaching Chinese, provided that, as a few interviewees suggested, Putonghua teaching should be given at an early stage. According to one interviewee: I approve using Putonghua to teach Chinese. Using Putonghua to teach Chinese could be a long-term goal. But this goal has to be adjusted according

Table 4.3 Views on using PTH to teach Chinese for teachers not teaching Chinese in PTH

a. Improve students’ Putonghua listening skills. b. Improve students’ reading ability in Chinese. c. Improve students’ communication skills in writing. d. Improve students’ oral communication skills in Putonghua. e. Can build up students’ habit in reading Chinese books. f. Can enable students to better understand Chinese culture.

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree

4 (3.7%) 13 (12.3%) 5 (4.7%) 3 (2.8%)

6 (5.6%) 29 (27.4%) 12 (11.2%) 4 (3.8%)

25 (23.4%) 39 (36.8%) 35 (32.7%) 26 (24.5%)

65 (60.7%) 23 (21.7%) 51 (47.7%) 64 (60.4%)

7 (6.5%) 2 (1.9%) 4 (3.7%) 9 (8.5%)

26 (24.3%) 24 (22.4%)

38 (35.8%) 35 (33%)

33 (31.1%) 39 (36.8%)

8 (7.5%) 6 (5.7%)

2 (1.9%) 3 (2.8%)

Source : Data collected from research.

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to the overall social context, students’ learning situation, as well as the ability of teachers. I do not approve implementing using Putonghua to teach Chinese throughout the territory within a short period of time as this involves the issue of students’ ability. I think we should start the implementation of using Putonghua to teach Chinese from primary school education. After all, this is the stage when students perform the best in imitating languages. Many fundamental language abilities and learning habits are established during primary school education. (Teacher 3)

Difficulties in Putonghua Teaching While teaching Putonghua, teacher respondents realized the difficulties faced by their students taking Putonghua lessons. According to teachers’ perspectives, the main difficulties arose from the lack of context for learning Putonghua (96.3%), the lack of confidence in speaking Putonghua (64.6%), the lack of learning motivation (46.3%), insufficient Putonghua lessons (37.8%), lack of interest (35.4%), lower expectations of their parents (31.7%) and insufficient learning resources (20.7%). The difficulties faced by students were also reflected in the respondents’ attitudes towards students’ participation in Putonghua teaching (Table 4.4). According to Table 4.4, in terms of the influence of Putonghua teaching upon learning motivation and classroom participation, a majority of teacher respondents doubted the effectiveness of Putonghua teaching. Teachers in interviews discussed the needs of students to adapt themselves to Putonghua teaching, though they were more or less optimistic about students’ ability in overcoming the difficulty. One teacher interviewee said: They are not used to Putonghua as the medium of instruction; for example, the content taught is all in Putonghua and the students have to answer questions in Putonghua. But if the students learn Chinese using Putonghua starting from secondary one, normally they could adapt by the end of the first term. (Teacher 4) One teacher in her interview detailed the difficulties, especially in phonology, lexicon and grammar, which Hong Kong students faced. According to the teacher:

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Concerning pronunciation, the pronunciation of sounds which only exist in Putonghua but not in Cantonese pose learning obstacle for students. For consonants, retroflex ‘zh’, ‘ch’, ‘sh’, ‘r’ and alveolar-palatal like ‘j’, ‘q’, ‘x’ are more difficult for them. For tones, the differentiation between the first and the fourth tones, as well as the mastering of the third tone are a difficulty for them . . . For local Hong Kong students learning Putonghua, the problem in vocabulary usage is more serious than grammar usage. Hong Kong people are used to communicating in Cantonese vocabulary. It is hard for them to generalize words learnt from book reading to daily communication. Very often, when students learn Putonghua, they express themselves in words which are tinted with local flavor. For example, they may use Cantonese word ‘䊾㋴’ instead of the Putonghua counterpart ‘㋴䊾’ (quality), and Cantonese word ‘ॳᄤㄚ’ instead of the Putonghua counterpart ‘೧⦴ㄚ’ (ball pen) . . . (Teacher 5)

Table 4.4 Difficulties of Putonghua teaching in Hong Kong

a. Using Putonghua to teach would not affect students’ interest in learning Chinese. b. Students’ learning motivation is high when I use Putonghua to teach. c. When I use Putonghua to teach Chinese, students can fully understand what I am teaching. d. When I use Putonghua to teach Chinese, students are pleased to use Putonghua in answering questions. e. During group discussion, students are pleased to exchange their ideas in Putonghua.

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree

3 (4.7%)

20 (31.3%)

19 (29.7%)

19 (29.7%)

3 (4.7%)

1 (1.5%)

25 (38.5%)

28 (43.1%)

9 (13.8%)

2 (3.1%)

1 (1.5%)

17 (26.2%)

30 (46.2%)

15 (23.1%)

2 (3.1%)

3 (4.6%)

21 (32.3%)

22 (33.8%)

17 (26.2%)

2 (3.1%)

12 (18.5%)

24 (36.9%)

22 (33.8%)

6 (9.2%)

1 (1.5%)

Source : Data collected from research.

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The language difficulties were especially concerned with those students who had learning problems. One teacher interviewee remarked: If students have learning problem, learning Chinese through Putonghua may affect their learning spirit. It would be disadvantageous for classroom interaction. This is especially true for junior form students, as they begin to be not very engaged in classroom discussion and answering questions . . . If students only start to learn Chinese using Putonghua during secondary school and their Putonghua ability is not very strong, then it may not be beneficial in strengthening their language and thinking abilities. (Teacher 2) However, while being asked in interview, the teacher respondents claimed that the difficulties in learners’ engagement in classroom activities were generally shared by all the subjects, and students were actually doing well especially when they sat in exam/test in comparison to what happened before. One teacher interviewee stated: Putonghua lessons do not present a difficulty for my students. They are willing to speak in Putonghua. This may be because my school is a Chinese as medium of instruction (CMI) girls’ school and generally girls are better in languages. Some of the students also help bring up the atmosphere for the class, which is good. But of course there are some who are reluctant to speak. In fact, I taught Putonghua some years ago but then ceased to teach it for a period of time. But since using Putonghua to teach Chinese is beginning to be in vogue, I also wanted to try and teach, so that I would not be cut off from this trend. I found that the improvement of the students is large in the past 10 to 20 years. The overall standard is not low. Their pronunciation is acceptable; it only depends on whether they dare to speak or willing to speak. For example, during oral examination, they come out one by one to present and they do not have much difficulty. They may not be very active and responsive during lessons, but this phenomenon is not only seen in Putonghua lessons. Other subjects also have this problem. (Teacher 1)

Teachers’ Putonghua competency and professional development Although 58.4% of teacher respondents considered that they taught Chinese better in Cantonese rather than in Putonghua, they were generally

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confident in the mastery of Putonghua (Table 4.5). More than half of the respondents agreed that they mastered the Putonghua pronunciation accurately (74%), mastered the Putonghua grammar accurately (64%), expressed themselves fluently through Putonghua (70%), read Chinese textbooks in Putonghua accurately (84%) and pointed out Putonghua fallacies accurately (62%). All the percentages were higher than those for respondents who were not teaching Chinese through Putonghua (Table 4.6).

Table 4.5 Confidence in PTH teaching for teachers teaching Chinese in PTH

a. I can master the Putonghua pronunciation accurately. b. I can master the Putonghua grammar accurately. c. I can express myself fluently using Putonghua. d. I can read aloud the selected works in the Chinese textbooks accurately. e. I can point out fallacy accurately (including pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, etc.)

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree

1 (2%) 1 (2%) 1 (2%) 0 (0%)

1 (2%) 3 (6%) 3 (6%) 1 (2%)

11 (22%) 14 (28%) 11 (22%) 7 (14%)

24 (48%) 24 (48%) 22 (44%) 27 (54%)

13 (26%) 8 (16%) 13 (26%) 15 (30%)

0 (0%)

3 (6%)

16 (32%)

22 (44%)

9 (18%)

Source : Data collected from research.

Table 4.6 Confidence in PTH teaching for teachers not teaching Chinese in PTH

a. I can master the Putonghua pronunciation accurately. b. I can master the Putonghua grammar accurately. c. I can express myself fluently using Putonghua. d. I can read aloud the selected works in the Chinese textbooks accurately. e. I can point out fallacy accurately (including pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, etc.)

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

14 (13.1%) 10 (9.3%) 16 (15%) 17 (15.9%)

26 (24.3%) 22 (20.6%) 17 (15.9%) 22 (20.6%)

38 22 (35.5%) (20.6%) 46 (43%) 26 (24.3%) 44 24 (41.1%) (22.4%) 37 23 (34.6%) (21.5%)

24 (22.4%)

20 (18.7%)

43 (40.2%)

Strongly agree 7 (6.5%) 3 (2.8%) 6 (5.6%) 8 (7.5%)

18 2 (16.8%) (1.9%)

Source : Data collected from research.

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However, as we mentioned above, mastery of Putonghua was not directly linked with competence in teaching through Putonghua, even though many respondents (52.9%) considered that language proficiency assessment was necessary. In their teaching practice, there were all kinds of difficulties which challenged their teaching competence. According to their responses, the three main difficulties in teaching Putonghua were the lack of learning context for Putonghua (71.4%), the lower standards of students’ Putonghua (55.4%) and the lack of teaching experience (47%). The other difficulties were the lack of auxiliary teaching materials (39.3%), the lack of preparation time for lessons (33.3%), retarded teaching progress (32.7%), the lack of students’ interest (32.1%), the lack of suitable teaching materials (23.2%), the lack of teaching theories and pedagogy (23.2%) and the lack of support from parents (14.9%). The difficulties in teaching more or less reflected the difficulties in learning indicated above. The respondents indicated how important it was for the teacher to act as a role model in Putonghua teaching. According to one teacher interviewee: The vernacular of the Hong Kong community is Cantonese. For the majority of students learning at schools, they also communicate with their teachers and classmates mainly through Cantonese. To learn Putonghua through a formal route, they could only learn it through the school curriculum. However, under the current situation of limited number of Putonghua lessons in both primary and secondary schools, if the students could meet a teacher who has good communication ability in Putonghua, the teacher could become the role model of the students and facilitate their learning. Therefore, whether students (especially primary school students) have a good language teacher as modeling or not, is a key to reduce learning difficulty. (Teacher 6) With the dilemmas and challenges in teaching Putonghua, the respondents showed their perspectives towards the necessity of supportive training for Putonghua teaching. In their response towards the question: what kinds of support do you want most when you are using Putonghua to teach Chinese, respondents emphasized the kinds of support in auxiliary teaching materials (56%), training courses (48.8%) and suggestions in teaching pedagogy (45.2%). The other supports involved more preparation time for lessons (43.5%), suitable textbooks (42.9%), collaborative teaching (34.5%), subsidy in attending related training courses (39.3%) and the provision of teaching assistant (26.2%). In terms of training courses needed, respondents generally came up with competency (teaching skills, Putonghua

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knowledge such as Pinyin, tones, grammar, teaching theories and pedagogy, and curriculum design and development, contextual culture) as the emphasis on training. One teacher in interview discussed the matter thus: I hope the Education Bureau could provide corresponding subsidy according to the number of classes using Putonghua to teach Chinese for each school. Then the schools could use this sum of money flexibly to recruit teachers. The recruited teachers could reduce the number of teaching hours of teachers using Putonghua to teach Chinese, so that they could spare time developing teaching materials and participate in teaching-related research to find out the best mode of using Putonghua to teach Chinese . . . Although SCOLAR (Standing Committee on Language Education and Research) provide subsidy similar to the above at present, the requirement of ‘opening classes using Putonghua to teach Chinese’ attached is confining for secondary schools. It is not beneficial for the majority of schools which do not dare to open the required number of classes but hope to open one or two experimenting classes. This is not beneficial for case-study on using Putonghua to teach Chinese . . . The Education Bureau could continuously and regularly hold interschool seminars related to using Putonghua to teach Chinese . . . Since resources in different schools are not the same, it would be beneficial for schools to share their invaluable experience of using Putonghua to teach Chinese in these years. (Teacher 5) One teacher in interview suggested the existence of a Putonghua subject, which was considered functional for Putonghua teaching and learning. According to this teacher: If the schools make use of Putonghua to teach Chinese compulsory, in short term [within 10 years], Putonghua could be viewed as a transitional language subject with the aim of improving students’ pronunciation, pinyin, listening and communication ability. Unless there are some schools which adopt Putonghua as the medium of instruction and the students mainly come from the Mainland, otherwise, this subject should not be abolished. Moreover, if the schools only have a certain number of classes using Putonghua to teach Chinese, then Putonghua subject has a supplementary function. This is because in Chinese lessons conducted in Putonghua, teachers in general would not spend a lot of time correcting students’ pronunciation problem one by one and teaching pinyin. Putonghua subject could make up for these learning areas. (Teacher 5)

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While teaching Putonghua, teachers’ attitude and competency account for their effectiveness in Putonghua teaching. Teachers’ confidence in teaching Putonghua and their self-efficacy with skills and knowledge in teaching are necessary for effective Putonghua delivery. One teacher interviewee commented: Self-cultivation of the teachers is important. It is not meaningful if the teachers conduct the lessons using daily-used words in Putonghua. It would be better if the teachers could memorize Putonghua idioms by heart and use them in teaching. We should think about the aim of using Putonghua to teach Chinese, whether we want to heighten the students’ Chinese ability, or are suppressed politically, or to follow the educational trend, or to assimilate with China, etc. (Teacher 2) The development of self-efficacy in language teaching skills and knowledge was also reflected by another teacher in interview. According to this teacher: Learning is a life-long issue. As teachers, we should strive for excellence. As a teacher who satisfies the requirement to be a Chinese Language teacher, Putonghua teacher and a teacher using Putonghua to teach Chinese, the following areas need to be strengthened. First, facilitate the exchange between teachers of different schools in the training on using Putonghua to teach Chinese. Second, upgrade the learning dimension in Putonghua training, for example, strengthening Putonghua communication or the art of communication (like the teaching of Putonghua recitation, debate and short speech delivery). (Teacher 1)

Discussion and Conclusion The last decade has witnessed, as never before in Hong Kong’s history, close contact with mainland China, which has changed the linguistic landscape of Hong Kong. This increasingly free flow of contact has raised the profile, value and use of Putonghua in Hong Kong. Whether it be driven by the growth of Chinese tourism from mainland China, cultural and educational exchanges, business or job opportunities, Putonghua is regarded much differently today than prior to 1997.

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The findings in this study echo the importance of Putonghua and show that teachers’ attitudes towards Putonghua teaching have significantly changed in the last decade. Teachers now show a positive view towards teaching Putonghua and using it as a medium of instruction when teaching Chinese. Their views are a reflection of the increasing importance of Putonghua in Hong Kong; they reflect its functional value in society (Davison and Lai, 2007). This change of attitude by teachers has been the result, not only of social influences in Hong Kong society, but also of the influence of parents and students. Other research has revealed that, at school level, most students and parents liked learning Chinese in Putonghua, with the majority believing that the Putonghua and Chinese writing standard will be bettered (Ngan, 2007). The findings show that teaching Chinese in Putonghua has improved students’ standard in Putonghua by providing a classroom language environment. The positive attitudes of teachers have also been influenced by their concerns for their students. Teachers are aware of the importance of Putonghua. With strong Putonghua proficiency, students will have more opportunities available to them. Currently there are 218,200 Hong Kong residents working in the mainland (Census and Statistics Department, 2009). A recent survey shows that 60% of Hong Kong graduates are considering employment in the mainland (Xingdao, 2009). Furthermore, this study indicates that the level of teachers’ Putonghua proficiency has improved. Most teachers feel confidence in conducting lessons in Putonghua. They are also satisfied with Putonghua teaching resources. The problems they have identified are not the problems faced by them, but by their students. Students’ lack of Putonghua practice outside classrooms is an issue identified by teachers. However the Putonghua-speaking environment has improved dramatically in the past 10 years through the influx of tourists, migration and mainland student intakes. According to Hong Kong Tourism Board from 2001 to 2008 mainland tourist numbers have increased from 4.45 millions to 29.5 millions, which is 4 times Hong Kong’s total population. According to Census and Statistics Department, only from mid-2007 to mid-2008, the number of mainland migration for family reunion and skilled and talented schemes reached 39,100, which accounted for 66% of the overall increasing rate of Hong Kong population. In addition, there are 14,000 Putonghua-speaking students from the Mainland studying in Hong Kong’s tertiary institutions.

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Thus the Putonghua environment is not a problem if students want to practice their Putonghua. The incidence of students not using Putonghua outside classrooms reflects their learning style and the examination cultures in Hong Kong’s school system. Research also shows that students face similar problems when learning English in schools. Students do not use English outside the classroom despite there being many opportunities to use it. Teachers need to design activities which can encourage students to use Putonghua outside the classroom. The major problem faced by teachers is the lack of experience in conducting Chinese lessons through Putonghua. Many teachers rely on teacher handbooks, CDs and videos to conduct lessons. Available teacher preservice or in-service courses on how to conduct the Chinese subject through Putonghua are often not sufficient either. This study shows that most teachers are capable and confident to conduct Chinese lessons through Putonghua. With more support from pre-service and in-service teacher development, teaching Chinese through Putonghua will be the trend in Hong Kong Chinese language classrooms. The trilingual and biliteracy policy in Hong Kong proceeds at a slow pace, but from this study we can see some light at the end of the tunnel.

References Adamson, B. and Lai, W. A. (1997), ‘Language and the curriculum in Hong Kong: Dilemmas of triglossia’, Comparative Education, 33, (2), 233–246. Bourdieu, P. (1991), Language and Symbolic Power. Cambridge: Polity Press. Census and Statistics Department (2009), Special topics report No. 49: Hong Kong residents working in the Mainland of China, viewed 5 December 2009, http://www. statistics.gov.hk/publication/stat_report/social_data/B11301492009 XXXXB0100.pdf Chao, S. Q. (2005), Huiqiao yingwen zhongxue jiaoyan wenji: yi putonghua jiaoshou zhongguo yuwen [The collection of essays in teaching Chinese through Putonghua]. Hong Kong: Wai Kiu College. Chu, P. N. (2001), ‘Teachers’ perceptions of introducing Putonghua as a medium of instruction for teaching Chinese language: Implications for professional development.’ Master dissertation, University of Hong Kong. Davison, C. and Lai, Y. W. (2007), ‘Competing identities, common issues: Teaching (in) Putonghua’, Language Policy, 6, 119–134. Foucault, M. (1980), Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972– 1977. Trans. C. Gordon, L. Marshall, J. Mepham and K. Soper. Brighton, Sussex: Harvester Press.

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He, W. J. (1999), ‘Fangyan huo biaozhunyu jiaoxue – zhongwen laoshi de xuanze’ [Dialect or standard language teaching – The choice of Chinese language teachers], Putonghua jiaoyu tongxun, 7. He, W. J. (2002), ‘Putonghua zhongguo yuwende chengxiao he zhanwang’ [The results and prospects of Chinese teaching through Putonghua], in S. Q. Chao (ed.), Huiqiao yingwen zhongxue jiaoyuan wenji: yi putonghua jiaoshou zhongguo yuwen [The collection of essays in teaching Chinese through Putonghua]. Hong Kong: Wai Kiu College, pp. 62–70. Morris, P. (1992), ‘Preparing pupils as citizens of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong: An analysis of curriculum change and control during the transition period’, in G. A. Postiglione and J. Y. M. Leung (eds), Education and Society in Hong Kong: Toward One Country and Two Systems. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, pp. 117–148. Ngan, Y. P. (2007), ‘Putonghua as a medium of instruction in teaching Chinese Language.’ Master dissertation, University of Hong Kong. So, D. (1988), ‘Implementing mother tongue education amidst societal transition from diglossia to triglossia in Hong Kong’, Language and Education, 3, 29–44. Tse, S. K., Chan, W. S., Ho, W. K., Law, N., Lee, T., Shek, C., Wong, C. and Yu, F. Y. (1995), Chinese Language Education for the 21st Century: A Hong Kong Perspective. Hong Kong: Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong. Wong, P. K. (1992), Putonghua jiaoxue xin tantao [New discussion on Putonghua teaching]. Hong Kong: Panorama Hong Kong Press. Xingdao (2009), ‘60% Hong Kong University graduates are willing to go to work in Mainland with a higher expectation of salary’, viewed 12 November 2009, http:// www.stnn.cc/hongkong/200902/t20090216_979272.html

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Chapter 5

South Asian Students’ Educational Experience and Attainment: Learning Chinese as a Second/Additional Language in Hong Kong Qunying Zhang, Linda Tsung, Ken Cruickshank, Wing-Wah Ki and Mark Shiu-Kee Shum

Introduction Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan city which is home to people from diverse origins. There are about 342,000 ethnic minority or mobile residents in Hong Kong, constituting 5% of the population. More than half of these people are originally from what are termed ‘South Asian’ (hereafter SA) countries including the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Nepal and Pakistan (Census and Statistics Department, 2007). The SA communities traditionally relied on their home language and English (the prestige language in work contexts), but since the handover of sovereignty to China in 1997, young people are faced with the need to gain high levels of fluency in Cantonese (the spoken language/dialect of the wider community) and literacy in Chinese to participate in the wider society. This chapter endeavours to explore the educational experiences and outcomes of minority students through the teaching of the Chinese language. In the post-colonial context of an official shift to a trilingual (Cantonese, English and Putonghua) and biliterate (Chinese and English) society, education provision for ethnic minorities in Hong Kong has gained much more attention. Although the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government policies over the past years have been committed to coexistence of multicultures and harmonious codevelopment of multiethnicities, the SA minorities are confronted with various difficulties in

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being integrated into Hong Kong society, especially in the fields of education and employment. Among the difficulties, the lack of sufficient Chinese language skills which lead to lower educational attainment seems to be salient (Ku et al., 2005, Loper, 2004, Tsung et al., 2008). While the majority of SA background students attend government CMI (Chinese as the medium of instruction) schools where instruction is in Cantonese, there are also 16 primary and 9 secondary schools which are ‘designated’ for SA students. With targeted government grants and intensive school-based support, these designated schools are expected to address the issue of low school outcomes. Ethnic minority students mostly have English as the medium of instruction (EMI) and have Chinese as a subject taught generally using Cantonese whereas Chinese-speaking students in these schools are taught through Cantonese and are taught English as a subject. This means that minority students are streamed into classes different from local Chinese students. Some of these schools set intercultural understanding and social inclusion and harmony as substantial elements of their goals, but the actual degree of interaction between ethnic minority students and local Chinese students varies from school to school. The readiness and confidence of the Chinese teachers in teaching minority learners is also variable. Many SA students in Hong Kong are unable to function in Chinese, or, even if they can speak Cantonese, their Chinese reading and writing skills are not good enough for them to receive CMI teaching. SA students enter the school system with fluency in their home language (Nepali, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi) and generally some fluency in English. Some have levels of fluency in Cantonese but are faced with acquiring literacy in Chinese in the school system. The majority of SA secondary students received primary education in Hong Kong (mostly from the designated primary schools), but there is also a significant portion of students (up to more than 20% in some schools) who are recent arrivals. Although most SA students have stronger English than Chinese, it does not necessarily mean that their English is fluent since there are constant new arrivals who are weak in both languages. In order to meet university entrance requirement, SA students need to take a second language subject other than English. They generally did not take Chinese as the second language subject before 2007. Some took French, and others would take their heritage languages such as Hindi and Urdu, which are offered by a few of the schools. Most schools have become aware of the need of minority students to learn Chinese and hence provide them some tutorial lessons of Chinese in an attempt to improve their

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employment and tertiary education prospects. There is, however, no targeted external examination qualification for such learning. The Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) for Chinese subject, originally designed for local Chinese students, is not suited to the SA students as second/additional language learners. Therefore, Chinese language curricula for minority students in individual schools do not have clear definitions in terms of structure, progression and learning outcomes. From 2007 government policy began to encourage SA students to take the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) Chinese examination as a goal. Some higher education institutions, as a response to the policy, began to accept Grade ‘D’ in the examination as their second language requirement for admission. It is assumed that this recognition can provide motivation for the students to learn Chinese, and also improve their chances of further study.

Research into Educational Provision for Minority Students There is a strong research tradition from North America, United Kingdom, Europe and Australasia into minority background students and education which indicates that students from particular ethnic/language backgrounds have unsatisfactory educational experiences, outcomes which continue into second and subsequent generations. Global increases in migration since the 1950s have meant that issues to do with minority students and education have remained a research focus. There have also been cross-national comparative studies of educational experiences and outcomes of minority groups (Crul and Vermeulen, 2003; PISA, 2004; 2006; Thomson and Crul, 2007). These studies have enabled comparisons of the same language/ethnic groups across national boundaries but being educated in similar contexts. There has been a shift from ‘deficit’ theories in the 1960s to models highlighting home/school ‘discontinuities’ and issues of social/cultural capital to a focus on the ways in which institutional and government policies are played out in school contexts (Portes and Rumbaut, 2001). The most comprehensive study has been ‘School Effectiveness for Language Minority Students’ by Thomas and Collier (1997) in the United States. This study was based on a series of investigations of more than 700,000 students in 5 large school systems between 1982 and 1996. The researchers found 3 key predictors of academic success to be more important than any other set of variables such as socio-economic status or gender variables. The first

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predictor of long-term success is second language instruction through subject areas combined with support in the first language. The second predictor is the use of interactive and communicative teaching/learning strategies and the teaching of language through content. The third predictor is the socio-cultural context of the school itself. Where the school staff were highly skilled, where the school curriculum was inclusive of minority students and their language and cultural backgrounds, and where the expectations of minority student achievement were high, that school achieved high student outcomes. Rhamie (2007) identified factors that contributed to high academic achievement among African Caribbean background students in the United Kingdom. The following factors, among others, are found to be influential: school ethos and atmosphere that convey encouragement and motivation; teachers who are caring and encouraging, role models, active and consistent involvement in community activities; and parents who are welleducated and have high status occupations, thus being able to give children consistent and practical help besides verbal encouragement. In Chinese contexts, the growing literature on minority education shows evidence of lower investment in minority education in China (Bass, 1998, Postiglione, 1992) compounded by inappropriate curricula and shortages of qualified language teachers (e.g. Postiglione, 2000; Postiglione et al., 2007; Tsung, 2009). Teachers have lower expectations of minority background children (Hansen, 1999; Kwong et al., 1989; Lee, 2001; White, 1998) and there is also resistance from minority groups to an education which is perceived to devalue and exclude culture, language and traditions (Hansen, 1999; Johnson and Chhetri, 2000; Zhou, 2000). Tsung (2009) found that a major factor in low outcomes was due, not to the type of school (separate bilingual or mixed), but to the lack of resourcing and support for minority students in general.

South Asian Students in Focus SA background students have figured in much of the research from the United States and United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom children of SA backgrounds fall behind white children during primary school, and on entry to secondary school, they are achieving at a lower level even when socio-economic status is taken into account. Asian background students catch up during secondary school and obtain similar examination results to majority students (Maugham and Rutter, 1986; Smith and Tomlinson, 1989).

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There are differences between different language/ethnic backgrounds with students of Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds constantly having lower outcomes than students of Indian backgrounds (Haque and Bell, 2001). This complex picture of educational outcomes is confirmed in US research. Portes and Zhou (1993) in studies of Punjabi Sikh and other communities found a ‘segmented’ picture of outcomes, with one pattern being upward mobility combined with loss of first language and culture, a second pattern being continuation of low outcomes between generations and the third being ‘rapid economic advancement with deliberate preservation of the immigrant community’s values and tight solidarity’ (Portes and Zhou, 1993: 82). In the educational setting of Hong Kong, research evidence shows that SA students have enormous difficulties in learning the Chinese language, and have limited education choices and opportunities since most of the public schools adopt Chinese as the medium of instruction (Ku et al., 2005; Loper, 2004). In addition, very few SA students have the opportunity of attending tertiary institutions because of the low quality of their school education and the lack of necessary Chinese language skills (Ku et al., 2005). In one study, parents’ worries about children ‘studying Chinese subjects’ rated highest on the list of parental concerns (Ting et al., 2007). Another study discovered that up to 77% of the Nepali parents thought that their children faced tremendous difficulties in learning the Chinese language, and 21% pointed out there was a shortage of tutorial support (Society for Community Organization, 2004). The Chinese language classes provided for SA students have been reported as inappropriate and inadequate (e.g. ICESCR Second Report, 2003; Ku et al., 2005; Loper, 2004). Loper (2004) found that the written Chinese language classes are either unavailable to SA students, or, when available, are not suited to their individual needs and levels. Minority primary students generally have a Chinese vocabulary of less than one hundred where several thousand are required for basic reading (Hong Kong Unison, 2007). Minority students also report difficulties in communicating with Cantonese-speaking peers (Ku et al., 2005; Loper, 2004). The Hong Kong government’s continued efforts to improve the proficiency in Chinese language among ethnic minorities are reflected in its initiatives to allocate a recurrent annual allowance of HK$300,000 to the existing designated schools from the 2008–2009 school year (HKSAR government 2008), and to fund intervention programs/additional tutorial classes in Chinese for minority students. Government policy seems on the

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one hand to be attempting to ‘integrate’ minority students into mainstream schools without any specific provision in terms of their first language. On the other hand, it is making some short-term concessions in tertiary entry and support in designated schools. The question is how can the structural factors that cause disadvantage be best addressed and how can the language and educational needs of minority students be addressed: minority background students who have different home languages and who are second language learners of Cantonese, Putonghua and English. To what extent are designated schools (targeted provision) successful in providing access to the majority language and improving educational outcomes?

Methodology This study adopted semi-structured interviews with teachers who teach CSL to SA students with SA parents as well to explore the educational experiences of SA students in school context and identify the factors that influence their educational attainment through the teaching/learning of Chinese. The in-depth interviews were undertaken with 31 Chinese language teachers from 5 designated schools and 26 parents of the SA students in these schools. The questions were designed so as to solicit informants’ own views on Chinese language learning experiences of SA students and the factors they perceived as relating to these students’ learning outcomes. Interview data were transcribed verbatim and informants’ responses were grouped according to answers to specific interview questions. Major issues were identified by a content and thematic analysis and then transcripts were reanalysed to identify comments on these emerging themes and issues. The five schools are situated in the east of Hong Kong Island, east and west of Kowloon, and northern part of the New Territory. All of them have substantial number of SA students, meaning that they have one or more classes of these students in each of the different levels of the schools. Two of the schools already took minority students in the 1980s and 1990s; others began taking these students in the early 2000s, or only did so in the recent years when they had a drop in the number of local Chinese students. The teacher interviewees showed great diversity in their background. Their experience in teaching SA students ranged from three weeks to seven years. Nine had teaching experience of five to seven years; twelve had been teaching Chinese for three to five years, mostly to mainstream students; seven had less than three years of teaching experience and had also taught mainstream students; and three were new teachers. Only two teachers

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received formal CSL training and were certified CSL teachers. The teachers (twenty females and eleven males) were all of Cantonese background. Among the twenty-six parent informants, twenty-one had been residing in Hong Kong from seven to forty-two years and were already permanent residents. The others were new arrivals (from several months to one year) and those who had been living in the city for less than seven years. From the interview set, eight parents had university degrees, others had secondary (eight parents) or primary (ten parents) education. The fathers were in such occupations as security guards, construction workers, restaurant waiters or office clerks, while the mothers served as domestic helpers, secretaries and cleaners. They were comprised of five ethnic backgrounds: nine came from Nepal, seven from Pakistan, five from the Philippines, four from India and one from Vietnam.

Findings Teachers’ readiness and efficacy in teaching SA students Thematic analysis of comments on teacher effectiveness and training indicated that teachers have realized that they had inadequate preparation, that there was inappropriate curriculum and that students were being taught and treated as if they were first language speakers of Chinese. Teacher interviewees identified the lack of appropriate teacher training and professional development. They reported that the five schools were all having a difficult time in teaching the SA students due to a serious shortage of qualified and experienced CSL teachers. Many Chinese language teachers who have been teaching local students Chinese are appointed to teach SA students. Following are two typical responses of the teachers to the above concerns: We appointed an English teacher when we first began [to teach SA students Chinese] . . . The teacher was a major in Translation and proficient in both Chinese and English. The second teacher’s specialty was also in Translation. As for training, we don’t know how to train them and who can train them. They didn’t have any training in teaching CSL. But teachers’ teaching techniques are very important. (Teacher 2) The training of [CSL] teachers, knowledge about teaching and learning strategies are very important. Teachers should know what makes effective teaching. But our teachers lack such knowledge. They don’t have enough experience either. I think we need these most. Why do

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I say experience? Because if the teachers have no teaching experience in Chinese courses, they can hardly manage well and will experience much failure. (Teacher 30) Teachers most frequently mentioned issues concerned with teaching characters. SA students tended to consider writing Chinese characters as a too difficult learning task and did not know how to make up the characters in the right way because they had no idea of components and strokes: They [the SA students] are simply not able to ‘draw’ the characters that have many strokes. Therefore, at first, I taught them the components to give them some ideas of the structure of the characters. If they can understand, I will remind them of the appropriateness of the strokes when they are writing. In this way, I think they will develop an awareness of following the strokes while writing the Chinese characters. (Teacher 3) For many of the teachers, this was the first time they had encountered teenagers who did not understand characters and how to write them. In Chinese there is an accepted order in which to write the strokes in a character. Although SA students had difficulties in learning this order, none of the teachers questioned the appropriateness of their teaching of this order. The respondents also talked about SA students’ learning difficulties in speaking, vocabulary and composition. In the case of speaking, the difficulty lay in pronunciation and tones. Even with the help of Jyutping, a Romanized alphabet for standard Cantonese, the students still had difficulty in accurate pronunciation and tone. Teachers commented on students’ inability to distinguish different characters with similar pronunciation. The difficulty in learning vocabulary was blamed on the lack of use of Chinese in daily life: They cannot apply the words in real situations. For instance, I taught them the words ‘乼᠛’ [fan]; I think they can use the words to say or write ‘៥‫ץ‬ 䊋њ乼᠛’ [we bought a fan], but they are not able to use the words in a sentence. They do not know when they can use the words. (Teacher 18) SA students were also perceived as lacking the ability or being ‘resistant’ to memorizing. This was an interesting comment. It is natural for first language speakers to realize that memorizing of several thousand characters is needed for basic reading. Students used to alphabetic or syllabic scripts

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such as SA students would not have had this realization. The teachers in interviews tended to think that SA students were culturally different from Chinese students in that they are unaccustomed to rote learning and many of them dislike or even hate to memorize things when they are learning. This leads to parents’ perceptions of memorization and repetition when commenting on teaching methods.

Teaching strategies and methods Eight SA parents (30%) commented that their children found learning Chinese difficult and boring because teachers used ineffective teaching methods. Copying and repetition are the typical methods used by native Chinese-speaking learners, especially at the early stage of learning Chinese. However, both SA parents and students considered this to be boring and undesirable, and were to some degree resistant to such methods. For example, one Nepali mother said: My daughters are asked to copy new characters many times. Sometimes, they say they cannot remember them although they copy many times. They say many characters look very similar, but they are different and have different meanings. It is difficult to tell the difference. And they often do not know which one to pick for use. (Parent 4) SA students learn Chinese as a second or even third language. Appropriate teaching methods thus need to be developed to address their special needs. The biggest challenge is to teach them how to use Chinese appropriately in their daily lives. Otherwise, they will quickly forget what they have learned in class without ever putting it into use. Since English is the stronger language for most of the SA students, parents suggested that Chinese language teachers should utilize English when teaching grammar. This would help students understand the grammatical concepts of Chinese more quickly and effectively. In other words, English can definitely be used as a tool to help SA students develop a feel for Chinese. Interestingly, ten parents (38%) expressed a desire for their children to be taught Chinese grammar systematically from the beginning of their study. They felt that schools emphasized practical everyday Chinese while the importance of formal grammar was compromised. Although the students were able to use what they had practiced in school, they were unable to

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employ this in creating new sentences and texts. One father who had foreign language learning experience remarked: Grammar is very important for learning Chinese, for learning any foreign language, I think. Good grammar can help students understand how to form a sentence and then a paragraph of text. If the teachers teach good grammar, the students will improve a lot in writing. This is because they know how to use what they have been taught in class to form sentences to express their ideas. (Parent 7) These parental responses could have indicated different attitudes. It could mean parents wanting schools to focus more on the formal language and therefore their children’s opportunities for further study. It could also have reflected the parents’ own experiences in language learning. It may also have been an indication that teachers did not see the teaching of grammar as possible or appropriate for these students. These comments on overemphasis on repetition and the lack of grammatical explanations reflect the findings of Bell (1995) who carried out an auto-ethnographic study of her own learning of Chinese in Hong Kong as a non-native speaker. Whatever the reasons, it is important that parents’ comments are explored further and taken seriously. The teachers need to be aware of the negative effects of their overreliance on repetition which could restrict the ability of SA students from fully expressing themselves in Chinese. Schools and teachers also need to explore recent approaches to the teaching of more formal aspects of the language.

Learning motivation The issue of motivation emerged as a common issue with most of the teacher interviewees. Teachers viewed most SA background students as not sufficiently motivated to learn the Chinese language well for several reasons. First, teachers perceived an indifference to the Chinese language and believed SA students brought predetermined negative attitudes to the Chinese language classroom. A typical comment echoed by a majority of teachers was: Many minority students do not attach much importance to the learning of Chinese. Some of them have been living in Hong Kong since they were born and they have completed primary education in Hong Kong, but

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they still cannot speak the language. They seem to ignore the language. (Teacher 11) In other words, teachers did not see the negative attitudes to Chinese constructed in the classroom or schools, but as something which students brought with them from the community. There was an element of blame attached to students’ lack of proficiency in Chinese. Second, teachers believed that most SA background students felt that Chinese is a difficult language to learn, especially in terms of writing. Most Form 1 students actually do not want to learn Chinese, but their parents think they do, and we teachers also think they wish to learn. In fact, I find them experiencing enormous difficulties and bitterness in learning. They learn the language unwillingly . . . They feel the Chinese courses are too difficult and boring. (Teacher 7) In most cases, their reporting of student perceptions did not go with an understanding of the difficulties students faced. Students were compared with local students whom they felt would not baulk at the challenge of difficult work. Third, there were comments constructing the SA communities as insular and segregated and reluctant to integrate with majority group/s. A comment typical of many was: They [SA students] tend to live in their own circle of life and have little chance to use what they have learnt in Chinese courses in daily life. (Teacher 12) Many teachers also noted that students were motivated to acquire the local spoken language, Cantonese, as this was deemed more relevant to daily life and future career. The negative attitudes were more directed towards written Chinese. The students are obviously more active in learning how to speak the language. They want to acquire some simple conversational Cantonese so that they can communicate with Chinese students . . . They are also happy when they participate in speaking activities. However, they are reluctant to learn the characters because they think that they have no such need. (Teacher 22)

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While the teachers generally considered SA students as unmotivated learners of Chinese, all the parents claimed that they and their children had recognized the increasing importance of Chinese in today’s Hong Kong and for their children’s future education and job opportunities, as one parent said: Our children have to learn Chinese. Their future is in Hong Kong, so they have to learn Chinese. Yea . . . in future if they want to join for working somewhere, then they need to learn Chinese of course. (Parent 23) In principle, if an individual has developed an awareness of need for learning, he or she will be motivated by the need to learn. However, even the positive comments from the teachers about students wanting to learn spoken Cantonese indicated negative perceptions of students. The students were characterized as operating only for instrumental motivation: to communicate in daily life or for future low-skilled careers outside school.

Educational experiences in school The socio-cultural context of the schools was not considered by the parent informants as sufficiently supportive and inclusive of SA linguistic and cultural backgrounds/capital. Seven parents (27%) claimed that their children had unpleasant experiences at school. One complaint was that local teachers tended to regard SA children as slow learners, thereby underestimating their learning potential. One Pakistani father made the following comment: My daughter told me that their teachers think minority students are not as clever as the local students and they cannot possibly be good students. She feels the teachers treat minority students differently from others. (Parent 13) One Nepali parent made a similar complaint: When a minority student does something wrong, the teacher will punish him seriously. But if this happens to a Hong Kong student, the teacher maybe ignores the incident and lets him go. (Parent 17) The bias of many Hong Kong teachers against minority students may impose more pressure on the latter. It is more likely that any unfair treatment

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will exacerbate the difficulties that minority students face. Invariably, they would have to work much harder than local students simply to be thought of as good students. In addition, SA students seemed to be isolated from the majority of local Chinese-speaking students. Mutual understanding between these groups appeared hard to achieve. According to the parents, their children felt that establishing friendships with local Chinese students was quite difficult. In fact, their children only developed friendships with students from other ethnic minority groups. It was likely that the language barrier was one major reason. One Filipino mother said in interview: They do not know each other’s language well, so they cannot understand each other very well. And so they cannot make good friends. (Parent 21) Furthermore, given that many SA students have poor pronunciation in Cantonese, some of their local schoolmates make fun of them. The parents felt that such ridicule discouraged their children and they no longer dared to speak the language. Hence, the parents suggested that schools should work out some solutions to improve the relationships between minority and local students for the two parties to support each other in learning. Another problem is the lack of encouragement. SA students, particularly the new arrivals, confront great difficulties in learning and will need consistent encouragement from teachers and classmates. However, one third of the parents complained that local teachers were neither encouraging nor sufficiently patient when it came to teaching their children. According to them, most teachers failed to help minority students build self-confidence and develop effective approaches to learning. They believed that given more care and encouragement, their children would be more successful learners. There was also a lack of appreciation of SA linguistic capital. SA students in designated schools learn Chinese as a subject and are taught other subjects through English. During the course of their schooling, their mother tongue is seriously lacked. One Pakistani parent remarked: Of course, it [Urdu] is their [the children’s] mother language, so they understand well. They will understand this, you know, the instruction. So for the English, English is also the second language for them, not the mother language. And although, there are only few lucky children, their parents are educated and their mothers are educated, because, we the

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Pakistanis, some mothers even don’t know ABCD and parents can’t help their kids. (Parent 25) Although SA home languages, such as Hindi, Nepali, Urdu and Punjabi, are taught in a few schools as elective subjects there seems to be no systematic provision. Many studies indicate, however, that the most effective pathway to literacy in any language is through the language that children are strongest in (Verhoeven, 1991).

Discussion and Conclusions Teachers’ lack of experiences and efficacy in teaching CSL and in communicating with SA students indicate that Chinese subject teachers in Hong Kong secondary schools have not been adequately prepared to teach children from cultural and linguistic backgrounds different from their own. There has been a research focus by scholars on teacher experience and effectiveness that account for the varied outcomes in second language learning. Teachers’ experience has consequences which are characterized by the attention to multicultural understanding and awareness of cultural issues when teaching their culturally diverse students, and also by the self-efficacy of skills and knowledge in second language teaching (CochranSmith and Lytle, 1993; Lee, 2006). The shortage of self-efficacy of skills and knowledge about teaching in the environment of a multicultural classroom frequently leads to the incompetence of teachers in designing and organizing second language teaching. Interview findings indicated that many teachers were using teaching methods similar to those for native Chinese speakers and not appropriate for students learning CSL. Tsung et al. (2008) found that 24% of students considered the Chinese lessons as boring or not useful. This presents a need for innovative and productive pedagogy for SA students. The specific learning needs and characteristics of SA students should be the major considerations taken into account in developing such pedagogy. This relates to the issue of CSL teacher training. Interview responses clearly identified the need for appropriate professional development and the need for teachers to gain in-service and preservice training in teaching CSL. There is no strict requirement for teachers to have qualifications in teaching CSL in designated schools and there are few avenues for teachers to gain such qualifications. Currently there is one central Chinese language curriculum for all students irrespective of their

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language background. Only some supplementary guidelines are provided for schools to make adaptations of the curriculum to suit the needs of SA students. This leaves most of the challenges in teaching SA students to the classroom teachers. Without professional development and support, teachers would find these challenges too demanding. One study reported that only 42% of SA students wanted to learn Chinese at school; the most important reasons for learning Chinese included: ‘to get a job’ (48%), ‘to pass an examination’ (39%), ‘to make friends’ (34%), and ‘my parents want me to learn’ (29%) (Tsung et al., 2008). As indicated in the interview responses in this study, SA students were more motivated to practice spoken Cantonese than learning Chinese characters, and parents expected their children to gain Chinese fluency only for a good job. This reflects SA community’s more utilitarian orientation to learning Chinese in order to accomplish some immediate goals such as to pass an exam or to advance a career. Such orientation is identified by Gardner (1985) and others (Cookes and Schmidt, 1991; Hudson, 2000) as instrumental motivation, in contrast with integrative motivation for the purpose of learning more about the cultural community of the target language or increasing the affiliation with the target community. Evidently, integrative motivation for the acceptance and integration into Hong Kong mainstream society lacked among the SA students. Debates around minority student education often focus on the organization and structure of the schooling: should students be integrated in mainstream classes or should they be provided with separate/targeted schooling? It is beyond the focus of this study to discuss which type of provision is more effective. Yet, the SA students in designated schools being placed in a separate stream where they are taught through English and have Chinese only as one of their subjects means that there is no teaching through content areas and the access to learning Chinese is limited. The teaching of Chinese is clearly inadequate for these students. With regard to the context of the schools, interview data indicated teachers’ low skills in communicating with minority students; schools’ inadequate initiatives to promote mutual understanding and collaborative learning between minority and local students; teachers’ lowered expectations of student performance; and exclusion of SA linguistic background. There were also few teachers of SA background in the school system and there was no evidence of any employment policy to place these teachers where they were most needed. Usually the native languages of SA ethnic minorities are not encouraged, and the schools have no resources to provide systematic teaching of these languages or provide school subjects teaching

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through these languages. In principle, this appears to contradict Hong Kong’s language policy which states that students will learn more efficiently and achieve better results in their mother tongue. Ideally, the large SA communities could be provided with mother tongue instruction, or at least the chance to study some school subjects in their native languages. School education in Hong Kong for its immigrants and minorities has great economic and socio-political importance. The informants’ perspectives on the deficiencies in school provision and support, the less desirable school environment for SA students and their lack of integrative learning motivation indicate the complexity of educational provision for SA students and the slim chances for these students to achieve academic success. The current approach to teaching is still that of first not second language teaching. Curriculum and pedagogy development, and teacher training are all clearly inadequate. Although the government has provided extensive support, the effectiveness of the support is limited if there is no coordination between schools, educators, the CSL curriculum developers and CSL teacher trainers. The policy should then be directed both at creating a suitable CSL curriculum to be taught by trained CSL teachers and at encouraging SA students to gain fluency and literacy in Chinese as a gateway to a full advantage of the political, social, educational and economic opportunities guaranteed to all citizens.

References Bass, C. (1998), Education in Tibet: Policy and Practice since 1950. London: Zed Books. Bell, J. (1995), ‘The relationship between L1 and L2 literacy: Some complicating factors’, TESOL Quarterly, 29, (4), 687–704. Census and Statistics Department (2007), Thematic report of Hong Kong 2006 population by-census: Ethnic minorities, viewed 19 March 2008, http://www.bycensus2006. gov.hk/en/data/data2/index.htm Cochran-Smith, M. and Lytle, S. (1993), Inside/Outside: Teacher Research and Knowledge. New York: Teachers College Press. Cookes, G. and Schmidt, R. W. (1991), ‘Motivation: Reopening the research agenda’, Language Learning, 41, (4), 469–512. Crul, M. and Vermeulen, H. (2003), ‘The second generation in Europe’, International Migration Review, 37, (4), 965–986. Gardner, R. C. (1985), Social Psychology and Second Language Learning: The Role of Attitudes and Motivation. London: Edward Arnold. Hansen, M. H. (1999), Lessons in Being Chinese: Minority Education and Ethnic Identity in Southwest China. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

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Haque, Z. and Bell, J. (2001), ‘Evaluating the performance of minority ethnic pupils in secondary schools’, Oxford Review of Education, 27, (3), 359–368. HKSAR Government (2008), The 2008–09 budget, viewed 20 March 2008, http:// www.budget.gov.hk/2008/eng/budget60.html Hong Kong Unison (2007), Submission to the Panel on Education meeting on Monday, 8 January 2007, LC Paper No. CB(2)804/06–07(01) Hudson, G. (2000), Essential Introductory Linguistics. Malden: Blackwell Publishers. ICESCR Second Report (2003), Second Report of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China in the Light of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, paras 13–24, Hong Kong, HKSAR Government. Johnson, B. and Chhetri, N. (2000), ‘Exclusionary policies and practices in Chinese minority education: A case of Tibetan education’, Current Issues in Comparative Education, 2, (2), 1–13. Ku, H. B., Chan, K. W. and Sandhu, K. K. (2005), A Research Report on the Education of South Asian Ethnic Minority Groups in Hong Kong (2nd edition). Hong Kong: Centre for Social Policy Studies, Department of Applied Social Sciences, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Unison Hong Kong. Kwong, J. and Xiao, H. (1989), ‘Educational equality among China’s minorities’, Comparative Education, 25, (2), 229–243. Lee, M. B. (2001), Ethnicity, Education and Empowerment: How Minority Students in Southwest China Construct Identities. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Limited. Lee, M. S. (2006), ‘Becoming multilingual: A study of South Asian students in a Hong Kong secondary school.’ Master dissertation, University of Hong Kong. Loper, K. (2004), Race and Equality: A Study of Ethnic Minorities in Hong Kong’s Education System. Hong Kong: Centre for Comparative and Public Law, Faculty of Law, the University of Hong Kong. Maugham, T. and Rutter, M. (1986), ‘Black pupils’ progress in secondary schools. II Educational attainments’, British Developmental Psychology, 4, 19–29. PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) (2004), Learning for tomorrow’s world: First results from PISA 2003, viewed 30 October 2006, from OECD website: http://www.pisa.oecd.org PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) (2006), Where immigrant students succeed: A comparative review of performance and engagement in PISA 2003, viewed 12 October 2006, OECD website: http://www.pisa.oecd.org Portes, A. and Rumbaut, R. (2001), Legacies: The Story of Immigrant Second Generation. Berkeley: University of California Press. Portes, A. and Zhou, M. (1993), ‘The new second generation: Segmented assimilation and its variants among post-1995 immigrant youth’, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 530, 74–98. Postiglione, G. A. (1992), ‘The implications of modernization for the education of China’s national minorities’, in R. Hayhoe (ed.), Education and Modernization: The Chinese Experience. Oxford: Pergamon Press, pp. 307–336. Postiglione, G. A. (2000), ‘National minority regions: Studying school discontinuation’, in J. Liu, H. A. Ross and D. P. Kelly (eds), The Ethnographic Eye: Interpretive Studies of Education in China. New York: Falmer Press, pp. 51–72.

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Postiglione, G. A., Jiao, B. and Manlaji (2007), ‘Language in Tibetan education: The case of the Neidiban’, in A. Feng (ed.), Bilingual Education in China: Practices, Policies and Concepts. New York: Multilingual Matters, pp. 49–71. Rhamie, J. (2007), Eagles Who Soar: How Black Learners Find the Path to Success. Stoke on Trent, UK: Trentham Books. Smith, D. and Tomlinson, S. (1989), The School Effect: A Study of Multi-Racial Comprehensives, London: Policy Studies Institute. Society for Community Organization (2004), A Study of the Nepalese Community in Hong Kong. Hong Kong, Movement Against Discrimination. Thomas, W. P. and Collier, V. (1997), School Effectiveness for Language Minority Students. Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education. Thomson, M. and Crul, M. (2007), ‘The second generation in Europe and the United States: How is the transatlantic debate relevant for further research on the European second generation?’ Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 33, (7), 1023–1041. Ting, W. F., Liu, S. C., Chan, W. K., Chan, C. H. and Chak, T. C. (2007), A Research Report on the Social Situations of Ethnic Minority Women in Hong Kong. Hong Kong, Department of Applied Social Sciences, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Project South Asians Support Alliance, Hong Kong Christian Service. Tsung, L. (2009), Minority Languages, Education and Communities in China. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Tsung, T. H., Shum, M. S. K. and Ki, W. W. (2008), ‘Language situation of South Asian students in Hong Kong’, in Language Situation in China: 2007. Beijing: Commercial Press. Verhoeven, L. (1991), ‘Acquisition of biliteracy’, AILA Review, 8, 61–74. White, S. D. (1998), ‘State discourses, minority policies, and the politics of identity in the Lijiang Naxi People’s Autonomous County’, in W. Safran (ed.), Nationalism and Ethnoregional Identities in China. Portland, OR: Frank Cass. Zhou, M. (2000), ‘Language policy and illiteracy in ethnic minority communities in China’, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 21, (2), 129–148.

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Chapter 6

Bilingual Education and Korean Minorities in China Fang Gao

Introduction: Learning CSL in China This chapter documents the motivations and strategies of learning CSL among ethnic Koreans in Northeast China. Both the integrative motivation and instrumental motivation, and the main strategies in establishing intercultural contexts both inside and outside school for Chinese language acquisition are described. Second language acquisition has long been a common activity for a majority of the world’s population and is becoming even more vital as second languages increase in importance (Cummins, 1988; Thomas and Collier, 1997). Modern states are expected to provide education to the children of immigrants and other language minority children; in most cases, the intention is that these children are integrated with the children of the majority, both as a goal and as a means to reach the goal of schooling for integration into the mainstream. This is particularly true for China. China has 55 officially recognized ‘minority nationalities’ (shaoshu minzu), which account for about 9.44% of the total population (NBSC, 2005). In comparison with the motivations for those studying CSL in non-Chinese speaking countries (duiwai hanyu jiaoxue) such as in North America, Europe and African countries, learning CSL (Putonghua) in China for minorities has strong economic and socio-political importance (Feng, 2007). The increasing significance of Chinese language in the market economy since the end of 1970s has led to the emphasis on Chinese language studies in state schooling for the integration of ethnic minorities into the mainstream economy (Postiglione, 1999). Bilingual education (Chinese and minority language) began to be implemented in the mid-1980s as a transitional

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program for ethnic minority children whose first language was not Chinese into regular education (Zhenggui jiaoyu) (Harrell and Erzi, 1999). Various approaches have emerged in second language policy including isolationist, where minority children are taught through their mother tongue; assimilationist, where the mainstream language supersedes the minority language; and pluralist or integrationist, where minority groups get access to the mainstream language with the maintenance of ethnic identity (Tsung, 2009). While the increased importance of Chinese language studies is true of China’s 55 ethnic minorities as a whole, the extent of importance is more conspicuous for ethnic Koreans in China’s reform period. The majority of Koreans, who represent China’s thirteenth largest non-Han nationality, are perceived as ‘literate bilinguals’,1 which is in sharp contrast to other minority groups in China (Guan, 2001; Zhou, 2000). In bilingual Korean schools, Chinese language teaching originally started from year one of junior secondary education in 1948. In 1951, it was taught from the fifth year in primary education and third year in 1956. In 1993, Korean schools started teaching Chinese language from the first year of primary education. The number of Chinese characters needed for primary students has increased from 1300 to 2200/2500 in 2002 (1800/2000 for written literacy). Since China and South Korea established formal diplomatic relations in 1992, the increasing economic contacts have required Korean graduates to have higher levels of Chinese language skills in order to participate in China’s market economy and South Korean direct investment in China. Greater understanding of modernization and the market economy in China and South Korea has led Koreans in China to see Chinese language fluency as simply economically and socially advantageous (Choi, 2001; Lee, 1986). Learning Chinese is thus justified on the grounds that Chinese has international value which serves the ethnic Koreans in mainstream society within the context of global economy. The bilingual program in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture has often been commended as the most successful example of China’s bilingual education (Ma, 2004). Based on the data collected from an ethnographic research in a bilingual Korean school, this chapter scrutinizes the motivations and strategies of ethnic Koreans in teaching and learning CSL. With the significance of second language acquisition in mind, this data analysis goes through three aspects: integrative motivation; instrumental motivation and the strategy of interculturalism both inside and outside school and leads us to argue that Chinese language acquisition among ethnic minorities in China needs the resources and access to quality education under the coexistence of integration and ethnicity.

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Methodology Data were collected from an ethnographic study with a group of ethnic Koreans, who were involved in two fourth-grade classes in a bilingual Korean school, called FLK School (a pseudonym) in Liaoning, a province in northeastern China. During the five-month fieldwork (September 2006 to January 2007), semi-structured interviews with the teachers, students and their parents/guardians were used to obtain deep insights into their motivations and strategies for Chinese language studies. Individual interviews with each teacher took place in the school meeting room and family interviews took place in student homes. The length of each interview ranged from one to two hours and each interview was audio-taped with all tapes being transcribed. Each informant used a mixture of Chinese and Korean. Each interview was conducted in Chinese, and translation into English involved the interpretative translation through making sense of the meanings that the interviewees conveyed. Data from initial interview questions on perceptions of Chinese language studies were used to develop observations, to compare subsequent classroom events with what was said in interview, and to obtain overall understanding of Chinese language teaching and learning. Interviews with the informants were supplemented by informal, natural conversations with them and other teachers in FLK School. The process of giving ethnic Koreans a voice and focusing on minority language attitudes and practices was a new experience for the researcher as it meant being on the receiving end of the power differential between Han majority and minorities.

Research Findings: Motivations and Strategies for Chinese Language Acquisition Data analysis of the ways that the ethnic Koreans constructed their motivations and strategies for teaching and learning Chinese language indicated positive attitudes towards Chinese language studies for further educational opportunities and career choices. This was based on community acceptance and strategies in establishing an intercultural environment both inside and outside school for second language acquisition.

Ethnic Koreans’ motivations for learning Chinese language One major concern to second or foreign language (L2) researchers has been the role played by attitudinal/motivational factors in L2 learning

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and acquisition. Motivation is often defined as a psychological trait which leads people to achieve a goal. In linguistics, sociolinguistics and second language acquisition, a number of language learning motivation models have been postulated. Gardner (1985) and others (Cookes and Schmidt, 1991; Hudson, 2000) identify two distinct orientations for learning a language: integrative and instrumental. According to Gardner (1985), integrative motivation is referred to as the learner’s positive attitude towards the target language group and the desire to integrate into the target language community. Instrumental motivation, for Hudson (2000), is characterized as the desire to obtain something practical or concrete such as some social or economic reward from the study of a second language. For the ethnic Koreans concerned, both integrative motivation and instrumental motivation played important roles in their attitude towards Chinese language studies. The way of explaining high participation and academic achievement in Chinese language studies among the group of ethnic Korean students at FLK could point to their positive attitude and motivation towards educational success, economic benefits and integration into the mainstream through learning Chinese language. One Korean student commented: Surely Koreans should know Korean, because it’s our ethnic language. We must know how to speak own ethnic language. However, we don’t have to be very good in Korean. We should learn Chinese better. Literacy in Korean is only useful when you go to Hankuk [South Korea]. But you have to be competent in Chinese if you are going to work in China. (Student 1) Educational aspirations that motivate children and youth to strive for educational success are shaped by the expectations of significant others, notably, parents, teachers and peers (Campbell, 1983; Davies and Kandel, 1981; Hauser et al., 1983). The Korean parents and teachers generally had high expectations of Korean students’ Chinese language studies, which strongly influenced the learning motivations of the students. For the Korean parents, the mastery of the Chinese language was considered to help enhance their children’s access to higher education as a path of state schooling to improve employment opportunities both inside and outside Korean communities and to obtain the generally higher social status in China’s mainstream economy (Olivier, 1993). One Korean parent said this: We have co-ethnic members. While many Koreans now have lost their Korean membership over generations, we are still proud of our ethnic background and consider ourselves Koreans, rather than pure Chinese.

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But schooling is a totally different thing. Our children must learn Chinese in order to be involved in the mainstream. Otherwise, they won’t have a bright future in China. (Parent 3) The mastery of Chinese language and culture might also enhance the opportunities of ethnic Koreans to be involved into South Korean direct investment in China. China and South Korea have often been perceived today as, at least potentially if not already, important and powerful player in the world economy (Kibria, 2002). The increasing economic contacts with Koreans, especially South Koreans in the Peninsula have led to the increasing significance of Chinese language studies in China. Since 1992, the affordable labour, huge market and business opportunities in China has begun to attract South Korean direct investment. A growing number of South Koreans have migrated to China for business purposes (Kim, 2003). Many ethnic Koreans attempt to play the roles of translators, tourist guides, information providers and even business partners for South Korean people. Especially those Korean people with a high proficiency in the Chinese language and sufficient understanding of Chinese government and laws are more welcomed by South Korean business people. Chinese language is thus considered by ethnic Koreans as a necessary tool for them to have a chance to benefit from the economic connections between China and South Korea. Many Korean families in this research largely orientated their views of schooling towards future schooling and career choice within an international context. The picture that emerged from the families’ reflections on schooling was of a career future in which their children would have a chance to forge connections to China and South Korea. One Korean parent remarked: Our children are more likely to be advanced in China in comparison with children in other groups. They were born with their mother tongue of Korean. They learn Chinese with a good language environment both at home and in society. And now they learn English too. They will be more adaptable to the international stage. (Parent 11) In addition to instrumental motivation, the integrative motivation was also taken into account by the Korean informants. Korean settlement in China is different from the case of many other minorities in China, in which there seems no major conflict rooted in cultural dichotomy between the dominant group and the minority group. With regard to culture and identity, dichotomous oppositions between majority culture (advanced) and

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minority culture (backward) are frequently used binary terminology in the discourse on bilingual education and bilingualism in China (Feng, 2007). The government’s classification project in the 1950s divided all peoples within the borders of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) into five stages of modes of production (primitive, slave, feudal, capitalist and socialist) (Hansen, 1999). The Han were higher on this scale than most of the minorities who have been regarded as representatives of earlier forms of society (Gladney, 1994; Harrell, 1995; Seeberg, 2001). Culture is generally viewed as a direct reflection of the mode of production. The minority groups as socio-economically disadvantaged groups have been seen as disadvantaged in terms of their cultural values that are perceived to be ‘backward’ (Iredale et al., 2001). Nevertheless, among the 55 minorities, Koreans are considered highly intelligent and hard working which is compatible with the values of the majority Han (Zhou, 2000). Byram (2003) argues that becoming bicultural is possible where there is much commonality between the two cultures. While some minorities such as the Tibetan and Uyghur are clearly distinguished from the Han, some minorities, such as the Korean, are very much culturally similar to the Han, except for a few cultural aspects (Kwon, 1997). The process of ascription by self and others explains the feelings of belonging to the own community and target language group. Ethnic minorities labelled as ‘backward’ might be willing to identify with the majority culture, but their majority peers and teachers might still ascribe them as minority students coming from ‘backward’ households (Lin, 1997). In contrast, there is a two-sided acceptance between Korean people and Han people.2 Ethnic Koreans generally have a high self ascription and are ascribed as ‘model minority’ by the mainstream society (Gao, 2008; 2009). For a majority of the teachers at FLK, a conscious and deeper cultural integration into mainstream Han society committed them to the importance of Chinese language studies. Most of the teachers at FLK were the third- or fourth-generation Koreans in China. Many of them have adapted themselves well to Chinese society and have absorbed some Chinese cultural elements as their own. They tended to regard China as their home and think of South Korea as a neighbouring country. As one teacher said this: China is rapidly developing its economy. I believe that China will be more developed than South Korea in the near future. I would like to live in China rather than South Korea. Chinese is our official language. It is being spoken by more and more foreigners. As Chinese citizens, our Koreans need to be blended into Chinese society. We need to be competent in Chinese. (Teacher 2)

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These Korean families emphasized distilled ethnicity which reflected their generally high level of acculturation to the mainstream cultural norms and beliefs. The Korean parents wanted to convey to their children some concrete or actual knowledge of Chinese language and culture. According to one Korean parent: I think they [their children] should be made aware of their own heritage, but I wouldn’t force them to practice Korean lifestyle. I wish school to give some of the Chinese culture to them. I would tell him to be Chinese, and be Korean. (Parent 13) Ethnic Koreans’ strategies for learning Chinese language Learning strategies are defined by O’Malley and Chamot (1990: 1) as ‘special thoughts or behaviors that individuals use to comprehend, learn, or retain new information’. Oxford (1990: 1) defines them as ‘actions, behaviors, steps, or techniques students use, often unconsciously, to improve their progress in apprehending, internalizing, and using the L2’. A significant number of scholars highlight the importance of socio-cultural context (Brown, 2000; 2001; Cummins, 1988; O’Malley and Chamot , 1990; Oxford, 1990; Thomas and Collier, 1997). The rise of sociolinguistic and contextual approaches in second language research over the past decade reflects a growing recognition that learning language is a more complex process than merely acquiring linguistic structures, and that language learning and use are shaped by socio-cultural process (Hall, 1995; Losey, 1995; McKay and Wong, 1996; Zuengler, 1989). According to the Prism Model produced by Thomas and Collier (1997), central to that student’s acquisition of language are all of the surrounding socio-cultural processes such as racial or ethnical sensibility occurring through everyday life. A socio-culturally supportive environment may influence the process of second language studies positively. Quality bilingual programs promote bilingualism, engage students in learning as a means to promoting academic achievement, and foster positive cross-cultural relations among students both inside and outside school system. In addition to teaching Chinese as a subject in bilingual Korean school, schooling in FLK was aimed for producing bilinguals with strong competence in both Korean language and Chinese language. One teacher informant commented, ‘the academic instruction is best provided to Korean students through both Korean and Chinese languages.’ The bilingual teaching in the non-language subjects was considered helpful for Chinese language acquisition. The means that most of the teachers at FLK adopted

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to conduct bilingual teaching (Korean and Chinese) in academic subjects was to speak a limited number of Chinese words while Korean was adopted as the medium of instruction. According to observation, the limited number of Chinese words included presenting a question to the class; instructing group discussion; explaining or emphasizing something which was important and easy to be understood in Chinese; disciplining students (criticizing or praising); or teaching students good behaviour and habits of study. In the computer subject, particularly, the teacher used Chinese language for class instruction predominantly, and Korean language occasionally. While asked for the reasons, the computer teacher stated: Korean language is more complicated than Chinese. I am more and more used to speaking Chinese while instructing my students. The computer input system is mainly Chinese in our country. The students in our school use computer textbooks in Chinese to exercise computer skills. (Teacher 3) Bilingual teaching is currently interpreted by Korean scholars as a kind of bilingual teaching for all subjects (e.g. Jiang, 2006). At FLK, the subjects which were traditionally taught in Korean attempted to use Korean as the main medium of instruction with the Chinese language as a supplementary medium. According to one teacher who taught Chinese language: Chinese language textbooks which we started using for the past four years have a higher demand of students in their mastery of Chinese words after primary school graduation than the original textbooks. Students are required to master 3000 or 4000 Chinese words while they were only needed to master 1300 Chinese words before. While the Chinese language teaching becomes higher demanding in the syllabus, the number of Chinese language lessons decreases. So it is needed to attempt all kinds of possibility for the promotion of Chinese language studies. (Teacher 1) The population mobility in the traditional Korean communities during China’s reform period resulted in the dramatic decline of Korean student intake yearly. The growing number of non-Korean students referred to as ‘Han’ students at FLK marked a change to this pattern. FLK valued the participation of non-Korean students who were considered to help FLK to maintain its enrolment. At the beginning of the autumn term 2006–2007 there were 327 students enrolled at FLK, which were composed

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of 14 teaching classes. The racial breakdown of the student population was 88% Korean, and 12% non-Korean including Han, Manchu and Mongol who were enrolled as ‘Han’. The existence of ‘Han’ students was valued for Korean students in second language acquisition. According to one Korean student: There are many Koreans in this locality, which is a disadvantage of Chinese language studies. But our school is different. There are some ‘Han’ students in my class which encourage us to learn Chinese. ‘Han’ students always put up their hands for questions in Chinese language lessons and we are thus motivated to speak more Chinese. (Student 2) Outside the bilingual school, the Korean families struggled to create a supportive second language environment for the Chinese language acquisition of their children. The families generally held a high educational aspiration and valued Chinese language studies. Most of the Korean students at FLK came from families, where both of their parents were Korean with Chinese as the second language. These bilingual families were confident in their ethnic identity and at the same time willing to engage with the mainstream society. One Korean parent commented: My child was born as a Korean, but grows up in China with Chinese national identity. The national identity and ethnic identity cannot be neglected since both of them are valuable. Our Korean children have to familiarize themselves with Chinese language and culture. We would like to create a bilingual environment at home to help them with Chinese language studies. (Parent 4) The families generally had a high level of acculturation to the mainstream culture, and tended to speak a mixture of Korean and Chinese, which contributed to the Chinese language studies of their children. One parent said this: I am accustomed to speaking both Korean and Chinese to my children. They have no problem with Korean. But they have to practice Chinese everyday. We buy Chinese books, and watch Chinese TV everyday. They are speaking Chinese much better now. (Parent 7) Many parents also paid for tuition for their children to have private lessons in Chinese language. One student informant remarked:

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In addition to the Chinese language courses in our school, my parents send me to attend an outside-of-school Chinese language remedial class. Since the beginning of this school year, they also employ one private tutor to help me with my Chinese language. (Student 6) The Korean students were also committed to strategies for the creation of a supportive socio-cultural context in their Chinese language acquisition outside FLK School. One Korean student commented: I would like to make friends with my Chinese classmates and Chinese kids in my neighbourhood. I don’t know why but I never have trouble in having a Chinese friend. We always get along with each other well. We talk in Chinese. I feel I am totally immersed in both the Chinese culture and Korean culture. (Student 10)

Conclusion Bilingual education for ethnic minorities in China has been geared towards the aim of producing bilinguals with native-speaker competence in both home language and standard Chinese (Min-Han Jiantong) (Feng, 2007). The ethnic Koreans in this research were able to speak and write in both Korean and Chinese, identify with both cultures and function easily in inter-ethnic communication. The Koreans constructed both integrative and instrumental motivations for Chinese language acquisition, referred to as positive attitude towards integration into the mainstream society and pragmatic attitude towards educational success and economic advancement. With the importance of Chinese language studies in China’s reform period, the ethnic Koreans concerned adopted strategies to promote Chinese language acquisition both inside and outside Korean school. These strategies mainly concentrated on the creation of a bilingual and bicultural context including instructing students through both Korean and Chinese languages, speaking Chinese language in Korean families, employing tutor for Chinese language studies and getting access to Chinese friends. The ability to speak Chinese is a key determinant that allows members of a minority group to share state and market resources with Han people (Shih, 2002). According to Berry (1989), there is a close relationship established between attitudes held towards the perceived importance of maintaining contact with home and host cultural groups, and the

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levels of acculturation/language acquisition an individual demonstrates. Subjects concerned with both maintaining their own cultural identity and extending relations in the host community are considered to have an integrated acculturation attitude. At the opposite extreme, an individual reporting little concern in either area is seen to be marginalized. To ethnic Koreans, their ethnic identity is strengthened by a state-sponsored ethnic language program, which makes the state, together with its Chinese system, a concomitant of ethnic identity for ethnic Koreans, rather than a threat (Shih, 2002). Government language policy gives ethnic Koreans in China a sense of dignity and being respected. There is no contradiction between being part of a Korean minority and being a patriotic Chinese (Shih, 2002). The Korean language has provided a convenient tool to engage in interactions to ethnic cousins in neighbouring regions. Ethnicity is often seen as an opposite to modernization in China. In contrast to ethnic Koreans, ethnicity makes many minorities in China second-class citizens and creates a sense of inferiority among them. For those ‘backward’ minorities, Han people can become a negative influence upon their Chinese language acquisition because the ‘Hanness’ reminds them of their lower social status in the mainstream (Shih, 2002). In comparison with mainstream language, a few minorities such as Korean, Dai and Jingpo languages have also become cross-border languages for business contacts with neighbouring regions (Shih, 2002). However, globalization does not empower every minority language in China. For some ethnic groups whose languages are not popular, production and life frequently run into difficulties (Shih, 2002). In a country like China, education for its ethnic minorities is never separated from multiculturalism and diversity. To believe in rights for the preservation of ethnic language and culture is to believe in difference (Choi, 2004). Chinese society’s context of ‘duoyuan yiti geju’ (Fei, 1991), which has been translated by Postiglione (2007) into ‘plurality within the organic unity of the Chinese nationality’, highlights that China is a unified nation comprised of 56 ethnic groups, giving it its pluralistic nature. The ethnic language as the first language is a key symbol of ethnic identity, and an expression of one’s cultural and ethnic affiliation. Skutnabb-Kangas (2000) in a discussion of the relationship between mother tongues and ethnic identities points out that people’s ethnicity and languages can become positive forces and strengths that can help to empower them. The support and maintenance of languages of origin would permit language minority groups within the current global migration pattern, to maintain valued transcultural/transnational elements for their linguistic and cultural

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rights (Banks, 2004; Hoerder et al., 2005). Whether ethnic minority students in China should be provided with education through mother tongue or whether Chinese teaching should be given more attention in China’s market economy poses more questions than answers to policy makers. Through this research, the consolidation of ethnic identity through the preservation of ethnic language helps rather than hinders attachment to the state, inculcated to learn Chinese language. The research findings with the increasing functional significance of Chinese language have strong implications for the curriculum design and relevant policy initiations for language acquisition. Although there is a huge diversity existing among China’s 55 ethnic minorities, what makes one case able to be generalized to all minorities is this willingness in education to maintain ethnic language and culture under multiculturalism and to obtain upward social mobility in a harmonious society. With the increasing importance of multilingualism and multiculturalism, it is clear that language teaching among ethnic minorities within globalization needs an alteration of government priorities including multilinguistic and multicultural themes in curriculum and teaching practices.

Notes 1

2

According to China’s ethnic statistical yearbook (2005), while the percentage of college completion is 3.73 among total population, and 0.0009 among total minority, the percentage among Korean nationality is 8.38. The illiteracy rate is 9.08 among total population, and 14.54 among total minority, whereas the rate is 2.86 among ethnic Koreans. Ethnic Koreans joined the united front with Han people, and played a vital role in the liberation of Manchuria, the Civil War (1946–1949) and the Korean War (the ‘Resist-America and Aid-Korea’ campaign) (Choi, 2001; Kim, 2003; Lee, 1986). In recent years, the contacts between ethnic Koreans in China and Koreans in the Peninsula involve the existence of the Korean community in Northeast China which becomes places for fugitives from North Korea and the potentially political link with the South Korean government or several nationalistic groups in South Korea (Choi, 2001; Kim, 2003). However, the contacts hardly cause any form of unrest, and Koreans keep intact their belief in the superiority of the communist party and its socialist system (Lee, 1986; Mackerras, 1994; Olivier, 1993; Zhou, 2000). Prior to Korean immigration, the northeastern China was largely uncultivated land (Piao, 1990). Ethnic Koreans succeeded in reclaiming the land by cultivating rice paddies (Choi, 2001). The increasing contacts with North and South Koreans in China’s reform period promote border trade between China and North Korea and South Korean direct investment in China with ethnic Koreans as the middle-men, due to ethnic and linguistic ties (Choi, 2001; Kim, 2003; Ma, 2004).

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Hansen, M. H. (1999), Lessons in Being Chinese: Minority Education and Ethnic Identity in Southwest China. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Harrell, S. (ed.) (1995), Cultural Encounters on China’s Ethnic Frontiers. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Harrell, S. and Erzi, M. (1999), ‘Folk theories of success: Where Han aren’t always the best’, in G. A. Postiglione (ed.), China’s National Minority Education: Culture, Schooling and Development. New York: Falmer Press, pp. 213–241. Hauser, R. M., Tsai, S. L. and Sewell, W. H. (1983), ‘A model of stratification with response: Error in social and psychological variables’, Sociology of Education, 56, 20–46. Hoerder, D., Hébert, Y. and Schmitt, I. (eds) (2005), Negotiating Transcultural Lives: Belongings and Social Capital among Youth in Comparative Perspective. Göttingen: V and R Unipress. Hudson, G. (2000), Essential Introductory Linguistics. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Iredale, R., Iredale, R., Hoy, C., Bilik, N., Guo, F., & Su, W. (2001), Contemporary Minority Migration, Education and Ethnicity in China. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. Jiang, Y. D. (2006), ‘Chaoxianzu zhongxiaoxue shuangyu jiaoyu yanjiu’ [Investigation into Korean bilingual primary and secondary education], paper presented at the Korean Chinese Education Forum (1906–2006), in Yanbian University, China, 17–19 August. Kibria, N. (2002), Becoming Asian American: Second-Generation Chinese and Korean American Identities. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Kim, S. J. (2003), ‘The economic status and role of ethnic Koreans in China’, in C. F. Bergsten and I. Choi (eds), The Korean Diaspora in the World Economy. Washington, DC: Institute for International Economics. Kwon, T. H. (1997), ‘International migration of Koreans and the Korean community in China’, Korea Journal of Population and Development, 26, (1), 1–18. Lee, C. J. (1986), China’s Korean Minority: The Politics of Ethnic Education. Boulder: Westview Press. Lin, J. (1997), ‘Policies and practices of bilingual education for the minorities in China’, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 18, (3), 193–205. Losey, K. M. (1995), ‘Gender and ethnicity as factors in the development of verbal skills in bilingual Mexican American women’, TESOL Quarterly, 29, (4), 635–661. Ma, C. H. (2004), ‘Language practice and identity of Korean-Chinese bilinguals in Yanji.’ Ph.D. thesis, Michigan State University. McKay, S. L. and Wong, S. L. C. (1996), ‘Multiple discourse, multiple identities: Investment and agency in second-language learning among Chinese adolescent immigrant students’, Harvard Educational Review, 66, 577–608. Mackerras, C. (1994), China’s Minorities: Integration and Modernization in the Twentieth Century. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. NBSC (2005), China Statistical Yearbook. Beijing: China Statistical Press. Olivier, B. V. (1993), The Implementation of China’s Nationality Policy in the Northeastern Provinces. San Francisco: Mellen Research University Press. O’Malley, J. and Chamot, A. (1990), Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Oxford, R. (1990), Language Learning Strategies. New York: Newbury House Publishers. Piao, C. Y. (1990), ‘The history of Koreans in China and the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture’, in D. S. Suh and E. J. Shultz (eds), Koreans in China. Hawaii: Centre for Korean Studies, University of Hawaii, pp. 44–77. Postiglione, G. A. (1999), ‘Introduction: State schooling and ethnicity in China’, in G. A. Postiglione (ed.), China’s National Minority Education: Culture, Schooling and Development. New York: Falmer Press, pp. 3–19. Postiglione, G. A. (2007), ‘Ethnic minority policy in education: The educational challenge of harmonious multiculturalism’, paper presented at the Beijing Forum: The harmony of civilizations and prosperity for all diversity in the development of human civilization, Beijing, China. Seeberg, V. (2001), The Rhetoric and Reality of Mass Education in Mao’s China. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press. Shih, C. Y. (2002), Negotiating Ethnicity in China: Citizenship as a Response to the State. London and New York: Routledge. Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (2000), Linguistic Genocide in Education – or Worldwide Diversity and Human Rights? Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Thomas, W. P. and Collier, V. (1997), School Effectiveness for Language Minority Students. Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education. Tsung, L. (2009), Minority Languages, Education and Communities in China. New York: Palgrave MacMillan. Zhou, M. L. (2000), ‘Language attitudes of two contrasting ethnic minority nationalities in China: The “model” Koreans and the “rebellious” Tibetans’, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 146, 1–20. Zuengler, J. (1989), ‘Identity and IL development and use’, Applied Linguistics, 10, (1), 80–96.

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Chapter 7

Minority Education for Exclusion or Access: Teaching Chinese as a Second Language in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Linda Tsung and Ken Cruickshank

Introduction Since the 1950s, the promotion of Putonghua and its corresponding written form, standard written Han, has been the ultimate goal of the State education authorities in China. This carefully chosen term, Putonghua (common speech), aims to make Chinese an inter-ethnic communication between Han and minority nationalities. In 1982 Putonghua was officially designated as China’s national language in the Constitution (Constitution of the PRC, 1982), and as China’s market economy has impacted across the country, Putonghua has also become a practical necessity for minority nationalities in the dominant Chinese society, also being regarded as an essential test of national patriotism (Tsung, 2009). There exists enormous diversity of cultural traditions and languages among China’s 55 legally recognized minority nationalities. They all have their own languages, with the exception of the Hui and Manchu who use the Chinese language. There are at least 128 languages spoken by the country’s minorities (3 of which are not officially recognized) (Sun et al., 2007), and some minority groups are bilingual, trilingual, or speak in a variety of different languages, some of which are mutually incomprehensible (Tsung, 1999). Mother tongue education has been the norm for several of the large minority groups (Koreans, Kazaks, Mongolians, Tibetans and Uyghurs) for most of the time since 1949. At the same time, teaching CSL was implemented at the policy level from primary Year 3 or 4, although in reality schools providing instruction in Chinese existed much later than this. China’s State Education Commission issued its first syllabus for minority students learning CSL in 1982 for full-time ethnic minority primary and

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secondary schools based on a 10-year education system for primary, junior and senior high schools. In 2006 the syllabus was implemented in Inner Mongolian, Xinjiang, Tibet, Yanbian and other minority areas where ethnic minority schools utilize the mother tongue as the medium of instruction. The implementation varied from region to region and group to group. For example, in 1993, Korean schools started teaching Chinese language from the first year of primary education and Mongol, Uyghur, Kazak and Tibetan students started from Year 4. The syllabus promoted Putonghua learning, specifying that competency was a considerable advantage for those students seeking higher education and better employment opportunities (Tsung, 2009). The recent economic boom and social developments have brought about a shift in government policy and community attitudes to the system of minority mother tongue and Chinese language learning. In Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) the Han Chinese population has increased from 6% in 1949 to 40% of the population. Traditionally in XUAR, Uyghur mother tongue education was the norm from primary to tertiary levels. In 2000 there was a shift to the use of Putonghua at tertiary level and there has been a step away from mother tongue education at secondary and primary levels (Tsung, 2009). The mastery of Chinese language is greatly related to the successful participation in the mainstream economy. Thus, most ethnic minorities in China essentially face a choice of either preserving their language and culture, or of obtaining upward social mobility by gaining competency in the Chinese language (Zhou, 2001). The national language, Putonghua, has come to be seen, in western regions, as the language of power and access to economic well-being. This has led to greater demand by minorities for education in Putonghua and a consequent shift from minority schools to majority Putonghua medium schools. Han Chinese secondary schools in coastal cities have even started accepting minority students from Xinjiang as parents send their children away to be educated in Putonghua (Yang, 2004; Zhang, 2004) or send their children to Neidiban (the inland schools) for education (Postiglione et al., 2007). The increasing significance of Chinese language in the market economy since the end of 1970s has led to the emphasis of Chinese language studies in state schooling for the integration of ethnic minorities into the mainstream economy (Postiglione, 1999). However, the outcomes of Chinese learning seem to be different in different minority areas. The majority of Koreans, who represent China’s thirteenth largest non-Han nationality, are perceived as ‘literate bilinguals’ (Gao, 2009) while in some other minority

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areas students’ proficiency of Chinese language is much below the average level due to the lack of teaching resources and poorly designed curriculum and other teaching materials (Tsung, 2009). Recent political concerns are a new factor in the political scene. China’s western provinces border on many countries; there has been concern with separatist movements in some minority groups. There has been much media attention given to the lower educational outcomes of minority students with the blame falling on mother tongue education (Tsung, 2009). The shift in attitudes has led to a renewed policy push for Putonghua. In Xinjiang and other regions the government has supported the development of merged schools where minority schools have been combined with Han schools and the education is delivered through Putonghua immersion. The question has not been addressed as to whether merged schooling will help Uyghur students to learn Putonghua and also whether the shift to mixed schooling will in any way address the question of minority student educational outcomes. This chapter will focus on the teaching of Chinese to Uyghur students in XUAR. It draws on case-study data from two schools, one a mixed Han/ minority school in an urban region and the second, a Uyghur school in a rural area and examines the factors that impact upon teaching CSL. The study works from an ecological framework approach to language education research relying upon interview data with teachers, parents and students, observational and documentary evidence, use of available statistical data and policy/documentary analysis. This approach places much more emphasis on contextual and environmental factors in researching language education and policy rather than relying on predetermined structuralist models (Hornberger, 2002).

Background of Xinjiang XUAR is the largest geographic region covering 1.65 million square kilometres and in this area there are 13 minority groups. Of its 19.3 million residents, 8.8 million are Uyghur and 7.7 million are Han Chinese. XUAR is a multilingual and multicultural society, with 3 minority groups speaking Chinese (Han, Hui and Manchu) and 5 speaking Turkic languages (Uyghur, Kazak, Kirghiz, Uzbek and Tatar). Uyghur is the major regional language used in XUAR and serves as a lingua franca among other ethnic groups. The languages of the media are Uyghur, Putonghua and Kazak. At the district level1 and below, six languages

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are used: Uyghur, Putonghua, Kazak, Mongolian, Kirghiz and Xibo. Tajik is also used occasionally. Less than 1% of Uyghurs are fluent in Putonghua, the national language (Tsung, 1999; 2009). The education system has reflected this diversity with a system of separate schooling based on mother tongue instruction since 1949. Six languages are currently used as medium of instructions in primary and secondary education: Putonghua, Uyghur, Kazak, Mongolian, Xibo and Kirghiz. More than 50% of students attend minzu (minority) primary schools which use one of the five minority languages as the medium of instruction. There are also hanzu (Chinese) schools, with Putonghua as the medium of instruction. The hanzu schools began in the 1950s, but increased dramatically in the 1960s, to cater for the large immigration of Han Chinese into Xinjiang. The medium of instruction is Putonghua in these schools, despite the migrants themselves coming from different dialect regions. Enrolments in these schools are mainly Han children although in the past decade more ethnic students have enrolled. In recent years a third type of school has developed, joint Chinese/ minority schools, called min han hexiao. These schools are either Han schools in which there are minority classes, minority ethnic schools with Han classes or schools with mixed nationality classes. The national government policy is now that by 2008 all Chinese and ethnic schools will be min han hexiao, merged schools. The ostensible reason for this shift to min han hexiao is the perceived failure of separate minority schooling. There are massive school drop-out rates, poor educational outcomes and low levels of proficiency in Chinese for students in the minzu schools. The participation of minority students in senior high schools and university is not satisfactory. In 2005 the numbers of minzu senior high schools represented one tenth of the number of students in minzu primary schools with only 119,958 students in senior high schools. The participation of Uyghurs and Kazakhs in tertiary education has been declining. The reasons for this are partly financial: although the 9-year basic education from primary to junior high school is free, there is charge for senior high school and not many Uyghurs in rural areas continue to senior high school. A second reason is the step back from previous policies of positive discrimination for minority groups in university entry. Uyghur students from Uyghur schools have traditionally been permitted to pass examinations with lower marks when entering a university because of the government preferential policy, only having to compete with their peers, not with Han students in this respect. While the examination procedure of min kao min, minority students sitting for examinations in their mother tongue, has not changed,

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the examination papers have. The ethnic examination papers once designed independently by Uyghur examiners became translated papers from the Chinese examination papers in the late 1990s. A minimum requirement was also set for mathematics, physics and chemistry. That means that Han and Uyghur students sit for the same paper in different languages. Results reported in the media show that students educated through mother tongue education do comparatively badly in these three subjects: the minimum score for mathematics was 26 for minority ethnic students and for Han students it was above 80 marks to enter tertiary education (Tsung, 2009). The lack of research into the reasons for the high attrition rates and low educational outcomes and the lack of evaluation of the minority education in general, however, raises questions about the rapid policy shift to mixed schooling. To what extent will mixed schooling improve educational outcomes and learning CSL for Uyghur and other minority students? Will these schools provide access to Chinese along with the minority language? In fact, to what extent is either system premised on high educational outcomes and access for minority groups?

Methodology The field study was undertaken in 2006 in two schools in the Akesu district. Akesu district is in south Xinjiang: its total population is 2.26 million, 75.5% of whom are minority people, Uyghurs being the majority.2 The methods undertaken were interviews with 45 students, 53 Uyghur parents, 23 Uyghur and Chinese teachers, 3 school principals and 6 educational officials, and Chinese and mathematics lessons observations. Interviews with 53 Uyghur parents were conducted by native speakers who asked them basic questions such as age, occupation and economic situation; then they were asked about the ability to speak Chinese, numbers of children, how many children were studying Chinese and, finally, whether families would rather have their children placed in a Chinese language school, a Uyghur language school, or a Chinese and Uyghur joint school. Finally, respondents were asked which language, Uyghur or Chinese, they considered most important in business, for finding a good job, and for education. Interviews were recorded, logged and transcribed. Analysis was done first in terms of themes and topics with responses being grouped according to frequency of occurrence. Concept maps were developed from commonly occurring words and phrases in interview data. Quotations in this article are therefore representative of majority views from interviews. Detailed analysis was carried

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out on textbooks, curriculum documents and worksheets collected from schools. Examples given in this article are representative of the range of textbooks used. The methodological framework was an ecological approach which considered, for example, what counted as bilingual education and minority language policy in all contexts of use from various data sources (Hornberger, 2002). The schools Guangda3 primary school (GPS), a pseudonym of a mixed school in a county town centre in Akesu, is the result of a merger between adjacent Han and Uyghur schools. There are 691 students in the school, 60% of students from Uyghur, Kazak and other minority families, 40% Chinese Han students who largely came with their parents to Xinjiang driven by the ‘Go West’ campaign in the 1990s. Of the 22 staff, the principal is a Uyghur, deputy principal a Han, 9 Chinese teachers and 6 Uyghur, 1 Kazak and 1 Hui teacher. Han teachers and minzu teachers occupy 2 different staff rooms. The 2005 merger occurred because the Uyghur school had no Chinese teacher and also because of falling student enrolments in the Uyghur school. Uyghur parents, especially cadres, teachers and business people were sending their children to Han schools. Within the school, students are divided into two streams: hanzu ban for Chinese students and minzu ban for Uyghur and other ethnic minority students. The medium of instruction for hanzu classes is Putonghua, with all classes taught in Putonghua. No Uyghur is taught to Han students but English is a subject from Year 3. Uyghur is the medium of instruction in the minzu ban and Putonghua is taught as a subject from Year 3, four classes per week. Curriculum subjects are taught in Uyghur and all textbooks are in Uyghur, except for Chinese subject language books. The school runs one bilingual class in Year 4 for minority ethnic children. Baifuding primary school (BPS), the pseudonym of another school selected for this study, is a rural-based school located in a county in Akesu. The three-storey school building is only 5 years old and looks well maintained with tables and chairs close to new. There are 365 students in the school, 91% Uyghur, 7% Kazak, 2% Xibo and other ethnic groups. In each class there are between 30 and 45 students. Most parents are farmers, but some are engaged in business and a small number are cadres or teachers. All 16 staff members are from ethnic minority background: the principal and 9 teachers are Uyghurs and 3 teachers are Kazak. Most of the teachers graduated from the local teachers’ college. All staff members are fluent

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in Uyghur but only the principal and Uyghur Chinese teacher speak Putonghua.

Findings Chinese teacher supply Access to quality teaching and learning in Putonghua, the national language, also varied between the schools. Although teachers and principals in both schools reported insufficient availability of Chinese-speaking teachers, BPS was particularly disadvantaged. The most crucial problem for BPS is a shortage of Chinese teachers and lack of continuity of Chinese teachers who are willing to work in the rural and Uyghur-dominated school environment. It only began offering Putonghua in 1989 because of parental demand and then only as a subject from Year 4 compared with that from Year 3 at GPS. The principal explained that it was not possible to extend this: We used to start Chinese class from Year 4. Now the government asks that schools start teaching Chinese from Year 3, but no teachers available. I have problems in keeping good Chinese teachers. A number of Han Chinese teachers were assigned to our school before but they all left. They could not speak Uyghur and did not talk to other teachers. They could not explain things in Uyghur to students which was hard for the students. They did not want to teach in the local school, they wanted to go to a large city. (Principal, Guangda) The current Uyghur Chinese teacher at BPS was transferred from a local accounting school and although she had no training in teaching Chinese, the principal is happy that she can stay. In his words, ‘it is better with a teacher than without a Chinese teacher’. Uyghur teachers and students faced similar disadvantages in both schools. Teaching methods and materials in neither school took account of the fact that Uyghur students were second language learners of Chinese. Uyghur teachers frequently made mention of concerns with the school merger policy about their jobs which they believed could be taken by Han teachers. In GPS, a Han teacher had recently replaced a Uyghur teacher in teaching Chinese. The reason given was that the Uyghur teacher’s pronunciation of Putonghua was not sufficient. Interviewees, however, argued that Uyghur teachers make better teachers because they could explain concepts

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in Uyghur where necessary. They could also give students self-confidence in learning Chinese as role models themselves. Uyghur teachers were also concerned about the requirement that they undergo the HSK, a Chinese proficiency test. A new policy requires that all the ethnic minority teachers pass Level 3 of the HSK test. One teacher stated: There should be equal policy between Han and minzu teachers. The Han teachers should have a Uyghur language test, if we need to pass the HSK. They should have learnt the Uyghur language when working in the Uyghur areas. They should be bilingual in Uyghur and Chinese in order to help Uyghur students. We were trained to teach in the Uyghur language, not teach Chinese. Why should we pass the HSK? In this area we don’t have an environment helpful to speaking Chinese. Because I did not have an opportunity to practice Chinese, my Chinese is not good enough to pass Level 3 of the HSK and I may lose my job because of this. (Teacher 7)

Chinese pedagogy Observations in both schools indicated teachers used the same method for teaching Chinese as that used when teaching it as a first language. Despite training in and talk about student-centred learning, GPS teachers believed ‘learning Chinese should use the Chinese way’ involving memorizing ‘the Chinese characters by copying them many times’. In one of the lessons observed, a Chinese teacher in GPS asked the whole class to choral read the text aloud a few times and then she gave a dictation of Chinese characters. Teachers in both schools commented the poor Chinese results were due to the laziness of Uyghur students because they did not copy and practice Chinese characters enough times. The traditional attitude that being bright was equivalent to rote learning Chinese characters was reinforced in lessons. T: Today we are learning Lesson 4 . . . open your books at Lesson Four, page 18 (teacher writes title on board). Xiangei guoqing de liwu (Give a present to the National Day)4 Every one read after me, Xiangei guoqing de liwu. S: Xiangei guoqing de liwu. T: Who can read the text? I told you to read it last week. Who can read it? Hands up.

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S: (many students put their hands up). T: Good. Aili, you read it. S: Xiangei guoqing de liwu. Wo xiang gei guoqingjie xianshang yijian liwu (I want to give a present to the National Day) . . . T: Aili is very bright. He reads it very well. No mistakes. Maimaiti, you read it again. S: Xingei guoqing de liwu . . . T: You have made many mistakes. This character is xian not xin. Did you practice it yesterday? S: Yes I did. T: Maimaiti is not very bright. Aziguli, you read it again. S: Xiangei guoqing de liwu . . . T: Aziguli is very bright, she knows all the characters. If you are bright you should know many Chinese characters. Now if you want to get a good job you have to be bright, if you want to be bright you need to study Chinese very hard. If you only know Uyghur you are not bright, you need to know Chinese. Do you understand it? S: Yes. We understand. T: Now, every one read the text together. S: Xiangei guoqing de liwu . . . Transcript of excerpt of Chinese lesson In this interaction the teacher constructs knowledge of Uyghur negatively and monolingualism in Uyghur as indicating lack of intelligence. The gaining of fluency in the majority language is seen as due to rote learning and effort and is equated with intelligence. Uyghur-speaking Chinese teachers are themselves constructing a power difference between Uyghur and Chinese identities, equating the former with powerlessness and lack of intelligence; the latter with intelligence and ambition. The possibility of dual identities is not explored.

Chinese language textbooks Principals and teachers at both schools expressed dissatisfaction over the Chinese teaching materials which they found difficult to understand and irrelevant to minority students experiences and needs. Expectations were based on first not second language learners of Chinese. One teacher commented: In one term, for example, students are required to learn 294 Chinese characters but they can only remember about 100 characters. By Year 5,

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the Education Department wants students to have learned 1300 Chinese characters but most students have learned only between 500–600 characters. Most lessons are not relevant to the life of students who don’t use Chinese outside the classroom. For example, I taught them to use Chinese to buy vegetables but when they go to the market, they only need to speak Uyghur. They do not need to use Chinese at all. (Teacher 5) The content of the Chinese textbook published by the Xinjiang Education Press is political rather than practical use of Chinese language. The content is mostly ideologically oriented and unsuitable for second language acquisition. Examples of the content of Chinese textbook are presented below: Lesson One: We are Chinese Sentence pattern: We are Chinese. We love our motherland. Dialogue: Jia: I am a Chinese. Yi: I am also a Chinese. Jia: We are all Chinese. Yi: We love our motherland. Jia: The capital city of our motherland is Beijing. Yi: We love Beijing, the capital city of our motherland. Translation of extract from Year 4 textbook5 Lesson Four: Give a present to the National Day Sentence pattern: I want to give a present to the National Day. Dialogue: Jia: The 1st of October is the National Day, what is your plan? Yi: I want to give a present to the National Day. Jia: What present do you want to give? Yi: I want to give my determination of ‘studying hard and making a good progress everyday’ (haohao xuexi, tiantian xiangshang).6 Jia: Excellent! This is the best present. Translation of extract from Year 4 textbook7 The dialogues are followed by an exercise in Chinese character writing which comprises a vocabulary list with Uyghur translation, character dictation, a selection of Chinese characters, and reading sentences, reading Chinese Romanization (Hanyu pinyin) and sentence writing exercises. Teachers expressed concern that there were no supplementary reading resources for Uyghur students. Stories in textbooks were written at too high a level of Chinese for Uyghur students and the content and audience for

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whom they were written was obviously Chinese background students. Teachers wanted bilingual books with Uyghur explanations. Some teachers also suggested access to Chinese computer games.

Parental attitudes to Chinese and mother tongue Uyghur parental attitudes to the type of schooling differed between the 2 schools, although this is due perhaps to factors such as parent levels of education and job and the urban/rural location rather than school factors per se. Among all 53 families interviewed, there was a clear desire for Chinese education, a marked shift in attitudes as reported by teachers. Fifteen said that they would prefer their children to attend Han schools, 19 said that they wanted a combination of Han and Uyghur in the school, and 19 wanted their children to go to a Uyghur school. Thirty per cent of the 53 families had at least 1 child in the Chinese language school system. In GPS, every Uyghur parent said that they would choose to send their child to a Chinese school given the opportunity; but the majority of parents in the rural school would choose to send children to Uyghur schools. Parents with primary school education only were overwhelmingly likely to choose a Uyghur language school for their children, while those with a high school education or above were likely to choose either a Chinese school or a joint Han and Uyghur school for their child. Interestingly, those with no education whatsoever were more likely to choose some Chinese or all Chinese in their children’s education. Uyghur parents in the urban site linked education level and social power and are generally at the top of the Uyghur social ladder working in government departments, publishing houses, TV stations and Akesu hospitals. All interviewees in this urban site responded that Chinese was more important than Uyghur across all spheres: business, job-finding and education. No Uyghur parents in the rural site had such a positive attitude towards Chinese. The most common reason for parents at BPS to choose Uyghur schools for their children, was along the lines of ‘because Uyghur is our own language’. By contrast, Uyghur parents in urban areas were more likely to choose a school for their children based primarily on economic factors. Nevertheless, 70% of rural respondents reported that they wanted their children study Chinese either by going to a Chinese school or by having a bilingual class in their Uyghur school. Seventy per cent of respondents also claimed that Chinese was important in obtaining a good job, in getting ahead economically and in receiving a good education. All Uyghur parents had positive attitudes to learning Chinese for instrumental purposes.

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The urban–rural divide could go some way to explaining the differential outcomes but a closer examination of GPS, the mixed school, reveals a second divide between minority and Chinese students.

Chinese language context Although the urban school GPS, was intended to provide access for minority children to the majority language and culture, integration and access to them was more illusory than real. Observations during class recess at GPS and teacher interviews showed that Uyghur students did not mix with Chinese students outside the classroom or school campus. Uyghur students played on one side of the playground and Chinese students on the other. Teachers explained that the language barrier was still an obstacle for integration because the level of Uyghur students’ mastery of Chinese remained inadequate and Chinese students could not speak Uyghur. School assemblies are conducted separately in different languages and school lunches are taken separately because of Uyghur students’ dietary restrictions on eating pork. Minority teachers in GPS believed that the school merger had few benefits apart from administrative convenience for the government. Uyghur and Han students continued to be separated because of the language barrier. Teachers commented that the integration only went one way and that current policy did not respect Uyghur language and culture. One teacher from GPS commented: If you want to live in our area, Uyghur should be learnt and taught to Han students in schools. The majority of people here are Uyghurs. Of course we need to learn the Han language. Everyone knows it is important to learn the Han language but our Uyghur language is also important. The policy makes Uyghur students feel their language is not important, so the Han students don’t learn it. We, Uyghurs often regard people who speak our language as friends because they respect our culture – like the Uyghur saying, ‘recognize the language not the face to be friends’ which means ‘if you know how to speak my language, you will be my friend’. (Teacher 11) Teachers and principals at both schools were concerned that there was little opportunity for Uyghur students to speak and practise Chinese outside school and confirmed that school divisions were replicated in the community. They reported that students did not play with Han Chinese children outside schools. One teacher explained:

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Before the 1980s, Chinese schools offered Uyghur lessons to Han students from Year 3. So Han students could speak Uyghur language, so Han and Uyghur children would play together. It was good for them to have this language exchange and mutual understanding. It is different now. After the open and reform policy, Han parents are only interested in their children learning English and schools have replaced Uyghur language lessons by English lessons. Han students don’t learn Uyghur language any more. After school many Han parents send their children to English tutoring classes or mathematics tutoring. Han and Uyghur children no longer play together. (Teacher 3) Student interviews confirmed the lack of access to Chinese outside the class and also the negative attitudes many had picked up towards their home language and culture. Some GPS students reported in interview that their parents had no culture;8 the same students said that they usually played with Uyghur friends after school hours although they had Chinese friends. Their Chinese friends had no time to play with them because of after-school classes. The language used in their play time was of course largely Uyghur with the majority of students watching Uyghur films or Chinese movies with Uyghur translation. The curricula for the Chinese stream and the Uyghur stream were also different. Although study of English was compulsory for Chinese students, Uyghur students had no classes at all in English. The lack of access to English has been found common for minority students throughout China (Yang, 2005).

Bilingual teaching Uyghur and other minority students in both GPS and BPS were achieving below average in standardized test results in not only Chinese but also mathematics and every curriculum area. One solitary exception was the bilingual class at GPS taught by a Chinese-speaking Uyghur teacher. Observations in the mathematics class showed students were well motivated perhaps due to the teacher giving detailed explanations and using visual support. The teacher said that although students initially had some problems understanding the mathematics lessons, with a help from a bilingual Chinese-Uyghur mathematics vocabulary list compiled by one of the teachers, there had been much improvement. The principal also commented on the success of the bilingual class and reported that many Uyghur parents wanted to send their children to this particular class, but because there was

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only one teacher trained in bilingual methods, the school could not accept more students. In the focus group interview, all students reported they enjoyed the bilingual class and evidently liked their teacher. Students commented that they learnt mathematics better because the teacher explained the concepts thoroughly although they sometimes had difficulty with diagrams and charts. In the final yearly examination Uyghur student grades in the bilingual class were 40 to 50% higher than other Chinese and mathematics classes, an outcome reported in the local newspaper according to the principal.

Discussion and Conclusion Access to Putonghua, English and education Uyghur children in both urban and rural areas are experiencing unsatisfactory educational outcomes in mathematics and other school subjects through their study in Uyghur. They are also not reaching satisfactory levels of fluency in Putonghua and have no access to education in English as Han children do. Despite the increased Chinese population in XUAR, the lack of a Chinese teacher supply and a Putonghua-speaking environment for the Uyghur students has made difficult for them to access Putonghua. Although the government has issued a syllabus for CSL, in practice, in the teaching of Putonghua, no allowance has been made for teaching it as a second language. The textbooks and teaching methods are the same as teaching Chinese as a first language to native Chinese students. The implementation of a CSL policy would go a long way to improve outcomes in the learning of Chinese. Although the education systems fall under the category of bilingual education, there was little evidence in this study of proper bilingual education except in the one class in GPS. Most so-called bilingual education did not involve bilingual teaching and involved no specific provisions for minority background students. In some minority areas, minority language and culture have been ignored and even replaced by the national mainstream language and culture in the name of ‘bilingual education’, due to political and financial reasons.

Different access between urban and rural students There exists a divide between GPS, the mixed Uyghur/Chinese urban school and BPS, the Uyghur rural school. Differences in levels of resourcing and

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teacher training and availability go some of the way towards accounting for the gap in terms of educational experiences and outcomes. Urban schools have better resources than rural schools. It is easier for urban schools to recruit teachers; teachers are more likely to stay; students in the urban schools can access learning Chinese earlier than rural children. Teachers in the urban schools have more professional development opportunities than the rural teachers; urban schools have more computers and other teaching aids such as multimedia rooms. As a result rural Uyghur children are falling behind Uyghur children in urban schools. They have late access and poor quality teaching and no bilingual education classes. Uyghur parents in the urban areas display a different attitude to language choice than those in the rural areas. Uyghurs living in the rural areas have greater attachment to their identity and language and prefer children to learn Uyghur. In urban areas parents stated a need for children to give up Uyghur for the sake of their future. The urban/rural divide that exists throughout China affects minority groups disproportionately because they are located mainly outside urban areas.

Can merged schooling solve these problems? The government’s response to the differential outcomes has been the policy of merged schooling, a policy which has been justified by claims that it meets parent and community demands. There is no evidence for parental support for merged schooling, except for parental dissatisfaction with the present inequalities. The problem has been identified as being located in the type of school, the existence of the separate minority schools, rather than in the quality of the education being provided to minority children. The findings indicate inequality between the Chinese and Uyghur students in the joint school. Based on the data from this study school mergers will not be effective unless the process is properly resourced. In mixed schools there continues to be a divide between Chinese and minority students with minority students not receiving any specific support in learning CSL. There was little evidence of interaction between groups of teachers or students at school level: the school situation maintained and exacerbated community divisions. The current school merger policy is for pragmatic not educational objectives and is a continuation of segregation with students separated by their ethnicity. Does the present policy of schooling in these minority areas mirror regional and central government attitudes towards minorities? This study raises the questions as to the motives for the shift to merged schooling.

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If increased educational outcomes are the goals then why are there no programs and policies for trilingual (Uyghur, Chinese and English) instruction for both Uyghur and Chinese? Why are there still such disparities in resourcing between minority and Chinese schools? Why are resources available for Chinese students to learn English but no requirement for them to learn Uyghur? Why is there little or no access for Uyghur students to speak Putonghua? It would seem that if the teaching of Chinese is to be successful, then proper Chinese curriculum and CSL trained teacher must be provided for students in these schools and that the development of bicultural/multicultural school environments must become a priority. This is not just a resourcing issue but one requiring a shift in attitudes and policy. Schooling is in part a reflection of society and its values. The current rapid economic development has seen a growing disparity between the economically advanced east and the western provinces where most of China’s minorities live. In Xinjiang there is a disparity between urban and rural areas and also between the urban Uyghur and Han people. The school system at present seems to replicate these disparities. The present policy shift only promises to exacerbate these disparities. The issue is not so much the medium of instruction or whether it is bilingual education or mixed schooling but the range of factors which affect the educational outcomes of the students and their access to fluency in both minority and majority languages. Skutnabb-Kangas (1988) in her analysis of minority education programs in a range of countries identified a range of factors that determined whether minority education would have a high or low degree of success. These were societal factors determining the type of program and the cognitive, pedagogical, linguistic and sociological factors which determined the success of the program. Skutnabb-Kangas grouped specific factors under several headings: organizational (including the provision of trained bilingual teachers and the provision of sufficient culturally relevant materials), affective learner-related (supportive/nonauthoritarian learning environment, high teacher expectations, internal student motivation) and cognitive/pedagogic and social factors relating to the first and second languages (good cognitively challenging teaching, input appropriate to language level, access to language outside the classroom). A more recent large-scale study of minority education in the United States, ‘School Effectiveness for Language Minority Students’, by Thomas and Collier (1997) was based on a series of investigations of more than 700,000 students in 5 large school systems between 1982 and 1996. It drew on individual student-level data and findings from quantitative data on

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Table 7.1 A comparison of rural and urban schools Factor School-related – trained bilingual teachers – appropriate curriculum – high expectations – access to L2 in/outside school Pedagogy – interactive engaging teaching – cognitive challenging instruction in L1 and L2 through subject areas – second language teaching pedagogy

Rural – Baifuding

Urban – Guangda

None None Low Limited

Yes None Low Limited

Low Low

Low Low

Low

Low

student achievement across the curriculum. The researchers investigated all types of program delivery and compared these with control groups who received other forms of provision such as remedial or literacy intervention. The report defined ‘success’ as ‘students reaching full educational parity with native speakers in all school content subjects after a period of at least 5–6 years’ (1997: 7). Their first predictor of long-term success was cognitively complex academic instruction through both minority and majority language. The second predictor of long-term success was the use of current interactive approaches to teaching the curriculum through two languages. The third predictor is the socio-cultural context of the school itself: highly skilled teachers and a school curriculum inclusive of minority students and their language and cultural backgrounds, and where the expectations of student achievement were high. On this range of factors, both Baifuding, the rural bilingual school and Guangda, the urban merged school, score low (see Table 7.1). Educational outcomes and access to effective education in minority and majority languages will continue to be limited without proper resourcing and a real shift in educational policy and planning.

Notes 1

The political structure of XUAR is the same as all other provinces and regions. At the top is the Xinjiang Regional Politburo Standing Committee under the direct control of the Central government. Under it there are the Regional Party

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Congress, the Military Affairs Commission, the Regional People’s Congress and the Regional Government. Within the regional government there are 3 administrative levels, duplicating the central system in Beijing: regional, districts and counties/cities. The regional government has direct control over 2 cities, 8 districts and 5 autonomous prefectures. There are 79 counties/cities and 6 autonomous counties below the districts and the prefectures. Among them, 35 are border counties. Figures are from Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Quanguo Fenxianshi Renkou Tongji Ziliao 2005 (Statistics on Census by Cities and Counties, the People’s Republic of China, 2005). P.206. Compiled by the Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China. School names have been changed to maintain anonymity of informants. Volume 2 Chinese textbook (Hanyu), pp. 12–13, 1998, Xinjiang Education Press. Volume 2 Chinese textbook (Hanyu), p. 2, 1998, Xinjiang Education Press. Chairman Mao Zedong said this in 1951 to praise and encourage a very brave 8-year-old pupil in Suzhou, Chen Yongkang, who helped to catch a spy. Mao’s words have become a nationwide slogan and have been posted in nearly every classroom in China since then. Volume 2 Chinese textbook (Hanyu), pp. 18–19, 1998, Xinjiang Education Press. The word wenhua (culture) in Chinese means literacy. Children meant that their parents had no wenhua (culture) because they were not fluent in Chinese.

References Constitution of the PRC (1982), http://www.asianlii.org/cn/legis/cen/laws/ cotproc1982424/ Gao, F. (2009), ‘Challenges of discourses on “model minority” and “South Korean wind” for ethnic Koreans’ schooling in Northeast China’, Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 3, (2), 119–130. Hornberger, N. (2002), ‘Multilingual language policies and the continua of biliteracy: An ecological approach’, Language Policy, 1, 27–51. Postiglione, G. A. (1999), ‘Introduction: State schooling and ethnicity in China’, in G. A. Postiglione (ed.), China’s National Minority Education: Culture, Schooling and Development. New York: Falmer Press, pp. 3–19. Postiglione, G. A., Jiao, B. and Manlaji (2007), ‘Language in Tibetan education: The case of the Neidiban’, in A. Feng (ed.), Bilingual Education in China: Practices, Policies and Concepts. New York: Multilingual Matters, pp. 49–71. Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (1988), ‘Multilingualism and the education of minority children’, in T. Skutnabb-Kangas and J. Cummins (eds), Minority Education: From Shame to Struggle. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, pp. 9–35. Sun, H., Hu, Z. and Huang, X. (2007), Zhongguo de yuyan [The languages of China]. Beijing: Commercial Press. Thomas, W. and Collier, V. (1997), School Effectiveness for Language Minority Students. National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education, Washington, DC: George Washington University.

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Tsung, L. (2009), Minority Languages, Education and Communities in China. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Tsung, T. H. (1999), ‘Minorities in China: Language policy and education.’ Ph.D. thesis, the University of Sydney. Yang, J. (2005), ‘English as a third language among China’s ethnic minorities’, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 8, (6), 552–567. Yang, L. (2004), ‘Shiji zhijiao de Xinjiang shuangyu jiaoxue’ [Bilingual education in Xinjiang at the turn of the century], in Q. Dai (ed.), Shuangyuxue Yanjiu: Di Er Ji [Bilingual Studies, II]. Beijing: Ethnic Publishing House, pp. 114–125. Zhang, Y. (2004), ‘Xinjiang shuangyu jiaoxue de xinfazhan’ [Recent developments in bilingual education in Xinjiang], in Q. Dai (ed.), Shuangyuxue Yanjiu: Di Er Ji [Bilingual Studies, II]. Beijing: Ethnic Publishing House, pp. 108–113. Zhou, M. (2001), ‘The politics of bilingual education and educational levels in ethnic minority communities in China’, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 4, (2), 125–149.

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Chapter 8

Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language in China: A Profile Lu Jianji and Zhao Yongxin

Introduction This chapter provides a brief historical account of the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language during the last six decades in China with a particular focus on the following: the evolution of teaching methods, curricula for different program types, development of various tests such as HSK, C-Test, and issues confronting the field of TCFL. Although TCFL in modern China started in 1950, it was not until the 1970s that it was established as a discipline, with guiding principles and a serious research agenda. The situation changed when TCFL was recognized as a new discipline in 1978 and TCFL research was included in the academic agenda with its scope, objectives and methods being specified. This signalled the beginning of the development of an independent TCFL field of study with increased consideration of its distinct characteristics. Theories on language teaching approaches and applied linguistics from the West have been influencing factors in TCFL, but other determinants include Chinese linguistics studies and language instruction developments in China.

History in Brief In 1950, Qinghua University of Beijing was authorized to admit exchange students from certain eastern European countries and a special Chinese course was established. This course was transferred to Peking University accommodating more students from various countries, and it was renamed the Chinese Language Special Course for Foreign Students. In 1960, the

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Beijing Foreign Language Institute (BFLI, now Beijing Foreign Studies University) set up a special office to admit foreign students initially from African countries but this was later extended to include students from Asian countries and other nations. Two years later, owing to the rapid increase of foreign students, the Peking University Special Course and the Foreign Students Office of BFLI were merged into a preparatory school for foreign students to learn Chinese before entering university studies in their chosen specializations. The preparatory school was renamed Beijing Language Institute (BLI, now Beijing Language and Culture University or BLCU), which was then the sole university in China specializing in TCFL. The founding of BLI marked the beginning of a new era in the development of TCFL. It likewise established a platform to facilitate foreign student instruction in the Chinese language on a larger scale and with more comprehensive training. When the ‘Cultural revolution’ was initiated by Mao Zedong in 1966, TCFL was paralyzed with BLI being closed and not reopened until 1972. In 1973, BLI admitted more than 400 students from 43 countries covering the regions of Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, Latin America and Oceania. Since the late 1970s, TCFL has been thriving in China. At present, there are more than 400 universities and colleges offering various Chinese programs to foreign learners with total annual enrolment figures of around 50,000. In addition to the traditional preparatory program, undergraduate, graduate and intensive short-term Chinese courses are now available. In 1986, the Degree Committee under the State Council accorded BLI (BLCU) and Peking University, among others, license to be the first universities to grant MA degrees to foreign Chinese learners. In 1998, BLI began offering doctorate courses in TCFL to foreign graduates. Thus, a complete certificate system for TCFL was founded. Paralleling these developments TCFL gained wide recognition in Chinese linguistic and language pedagogical circles as a new discipline. This was in the light of the profound developments in TCFL: the establishment of a basic theoretical framework in overall textbook and curriculum design and compilation, methodology, teaching management and testing. Contributory as well were developments in Chinese linguistics (in the areas of phonetics, lexis, grammar, Chinese characters, semantics and pragmatics, contrastive analysis, etc.). In all these fields, special theoretical systems for TCFL were formed, and significant achievements were obtained. To strengthen the training of TCFL teachers, the State Education Commission, MOE (Ministry of Education), issued examination and approval regulations for TCFL teachers in 1991 and awarded certificates to qualified

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TCFL teachers. Since then many universities and colleges have instituted new training programs for TCFL teachers at tertiary level. There were also developments in publishing and professional organizations. Two professional publishers, namely, the Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) Press and Sinolingua were founded. TCFL academic periodicals such as Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies, Chinese Teaching in the World, as well as magazines for learners such as Learning Chinese, the World of Chinese, and other similar materials were published. In 1983, the All-China Association for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language was set up, and in 1987, the International Chinese Teaching Society based in Beijing was founded. The latter has successfully sponsored nine symposia on TCFL.

Teaching Methods The growth of TCFL in China has been marked by the development of pedagogy appropriate to the contexts of second or additional language learning. When TCFL began in the 1950s, teaching was strongly influenced by approaches and methods of other countries. For example, in Qinghua University, Prof. Deng Yi, when appointed director of the Chinese course for exchange students, designed the curriculum with much reference to the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) mode of Harvard University. She taught Chinese in ASTP, using an aural-oral approach, between 1941 and 1943 as the assistant of a linguist, Prof. Yuen Ren Chao, the prominent linguist who was then in charge of the ASTP Chinese program. The format of the teaching involved lectures explaining the components (phonetics, vocabulary, grammar, etc.) of the language concerned. Then nativespeaking assistants divided the students into small groups and for drilled practice. During the 1950s, Prof. Deng herself played the role of lecturer, while several assistant instructors drilled the students in groups (Deng, 1994). There was an issue, however, in some teachers not speaking Russian and other European languages and so interpreters were recruited to assist in class. These teaching interpreters were at the same time instructors for the drilling sessions. Once they became familiar with teaching after a year or two, the interpreters began to teach by themselves. In 1953 at Peking University, Prof. Zhou Zumo adopted a ‘mixed method’ (1953), which was a combination of the grammar-translation and direct methods with emphasis on the latter to teach a class of Korean students. He described the ‘mixed method’ as using the direct and translation methods

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in a combined way. Beginning from the teaching of pronunciation, the students could understand lectures in Chinese after a month. The students could acquire listening and speaking abilities only by listening to Chinese lectures without interpretation (Zhou, 1953). Teaching at the People’s University, however, was influenced by the ‘comparative’ method of the Soviet Union. Wang Xuezuo and Ke Bingsheng stated ‘Our teaching method is mainly the comparative method, because only by comparison can the characteristics and expressions of a language be obvious’ (60). In another section of the essay, they stated, ‘While using the comparative method, the direct approach is not rejected’ (1993: 61). In classroom teaching, they borrowed the ‘five phase mode’, that is, class organization, questions on the previous lesson, explanation of the new lesson, consolidation of the new lesson and assigning homework. These methods were not copied mechanically by the TCFL teachers but adapted to suit TCFL and imbued with their own experience. Prof. Li Peiyuan (1988) summarized the TCFL teaching methods during the 1950s and 1960s as ‘focusing on the principle of practice, based on the mixed method’ (49). He described the methods as follows: 1. focusing on speaking and listening from the beginning; all the texts are in dialogues; 2. intensive teaching to meet the needs of the preparatory Chinese program; 3. attaching importance to laying a solid foundation for students to be competent in listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, and to grasp basic knowledge about the Chinese language; 4. attaching importance to practicing and drilling; 5. the teacher must both be strict with the students and always ready to help them. At that time, Chinese teachers attached importance to the characteristics of the Chinese language as well. This is evident in Zhou (1953) and Wang and Ke (1957), but all these characteristics were recognized by Prof. Deng Yi (1956). In her paper, she summarized the difficulties in Chinese phonetics, vocabulary and grammar. Certainly, they all perceived Chinese characters to be very special, especially European students who used alphabetic script. There may be similarities in the above approaches and methods and the particular features of TCFL. This may be considered a tradition for TCFL, by which we can trace and understand the development of its teaching methods. The shortcoming of the teaching methods of that time was that excessive emphasis was placed on the systematic teaching of

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Chinese linguistic knowledge rather than on strengthening language skills. Generally, before China’s opening up to the outside world, TCFL could not keep pace with the development of language teaching approaches. When the ‘Open Door’ policy was adopted at the end of the 1970s, TCFL teachers were able to establish contact with their colleagues from other (usually European and American) countries, TCFL teachers were surprised to find that language teaching had adopted the functional-notional or communicative approach. The priority at that time was to introduce the new approaches and to attempt to apply them to TCFL. This was not done mechanically. Prof. Lü Bisong (1977) suggested the integration of structure, meaning and function in Chinese teaching, for teaching to be based on a structural-functional syllabus. He explained (Lü, 1987) that according to this syllabus, sentence patterns and grammar points should be arranged according to level of difficulty. Moreover, when teaching materials were selected for particular sentence patterns or grammar points, the primary consideration needed to be the communication needs of students. Most TCFL teachers accepted these suggestions and were of the opinion that at the elementary stage, structure (form) should not be neglected when applying the functional approach. This was reflected in classroom teaching and in textbooks written during the 1980s and 1990s. During late 1980s, there was a heated discussion on how to cater to cultural factors in TCFL, and a common understanding that cultural factors should and could be a part of language teaching was reached. This understanding led to the further progress of TCFL methods: the structuralfunctional syllabus was revised to the ‘structural-functional-cultural syllabus’. It was pointed out in 1988 in the Foreword to the Chinese Language Proficiency Scales and Outline that ‘a TCFL approach with Chinese characteristics has been formed i.e., the integration of structure, function and culture is coming into being’ (1). This approach still prevails today. A number of new concepts concerning language teaching have been introduced since the 1990s, such as task-based instruction. The focus of research on TCFL is on the transition from the teacher as the centre of teaching activity to the student and learning as the focus, something which will certainly bring about changes to the methods.

Curricula TCFL, after over fifty years of development, has become a fully fledged academic discipline. At present, different TCFL programs are offered to

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foreign learners, and every program has its own curriculum to meet its specific needs and achieve its aims. Following is a description of a typical four-year-undergraduate program in TCFL. This example comes from the College of the Chinese Language of Beijing Language and Culture University. Their programs include two four-year-undergraduate degrees, one focusing on Chinese language and one on language and culture. There are also programs preparing students for specific courses of study and a range of short courses. The four-year-undergraduate programs aim to develop proficiency in all four main skills. In Years 3 and 4, courses in Chinese linguistics and culture are offered. The Chinese language courses also include work on the media, translation and literary Chinese. The focus on knowledge about China is on topics such as administrative systems, economy, cultural geography, foreign trade and investment, and the environment. Cultural understanding includes topics on history, philosophy, history of Chinese ideology, history of Chinese literature, Chinese drama, history of cultural exchanges between China and other countries, and topics on Chinese arts (calligraphy). In addition, programs have ‘language in use’ classes which involve discussions, speeches, debates, simultaneous interpreting, listening to broadcasts, watching videos, movies, plays, visiting places, writing or translation contests, giving performances in Chinese, and so on. At the advanced level, the students are exposed to contact with society and real life, which allows them to enjoy the Chinese context and to be well trained in communication.

Curriculum for a preparatory Chinese program The preparatory Chinese program is Chinese language training for students who plan to study their specializations (sciences, agronomy, medicine and humanities) in a language other than Chinese. The curriculum includes the following: elementary Chinese, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, oral Chinese, visual-audio-oral Chinese and elementary writing. For those who will major in traditional Chinese medicine, literary Chinese and professional Chinese in traditional Chinese medicine are offered, focusing on basic knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine.

Curriculum for further Chinese studies program The curriculum includes the elementary, intermediate and advanced level study in Chinese language: listening comprehension, spoken Chinese, reading comprehension and writing, newspaper reading, news listening,

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translation, literary Chinese, history, literature, philosophy, history of Chinese culture, geography, economy, and so on.

Curriculum for a short-term Chinese program There are different courses for the short-term program according to the length of instruction: four-, eight-, ten-, twelve- and twenty-week courses with 20 hours of instruction per week.

HSK (Chinese Proficiency Test) and Other Chinese Tests Since 1984, several Chinese tests for non-native Chinese learners have been developed to assess the candidates’ Chinese proficiency and meet social needs. As this is also necessary in the development and reform of TCFL, it has been the focus of interest of TCFL researchers. BLCU was tasked by the Education Commission, MOE, to establish a special department to develop a Chinese test for foreigners including overseas Chinese in 1984. As a result, the Chinese Proficiency Scales and Grading Outline was published in 1988, and at the same time, the designing, item writing and administering of HSK were also prepared. HSK (Elementary and intermediate level) was examined and approved by an expert panel organized by the Education Commission in 1990, while HSK (Advanced level) and the Chinese Proficiency Scales for Vocabulary and Chinese Characters were examined and approved by the same panel in 1993. The approval of the three levels of HSK marked the success of the development of this standardized Chinese test. The whole testing system was completed in 1997 when HSK (Basic level), intended for beginners who received regular Chinese education of 100̚800 hours, was approved. In 1992, the director of the Education Commission issued the Implementing Regulations on Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) of China in which HSK was confirmed as a standardized test at the state level. HSK began to be administered in 1988 in 9 cities in China and certain cities in other countries and regions. Up to 2005, about 130,000 foreign candidates from 115 countries and regions attended HSK. Today, HSK sites are available in 21 countries and regions in Asia, Europe and Oceania. In China, there are HSK sites in more than 80 cities. At present, the general HSK has developed into a systematic series when HSK (Threshold) was designed, while the general HSK itself was revised in 2007 by the HSK Centre of BLCU. The general HSK series, including its

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revised edition, however, is not a multi-purpose test that can address learning for specific purposes. This has resulted in the development of HSK (Business), HSK (Copy Clerk and Secretary) and C-Test (Chinese Test), which are intended for assessing the Chinese proficiency of candidates under specific environments such as in the workplace. The HSK and HSK (Revised) both aim to define the proficiency norms for learners of CFL and for minority students in China and for learners overseas. The test is used to certify Chinese proficiency for entry to college and university in China and also for employees. The certificate provides exemption from attending an elementary or intermediate Chinese course. The listening texts include choosing appropriate sentences from passages or dialogues. Grammar tests involve gap filling with selected answer. Reading includes vocabulary and comprehension tasks and there is also a cloze text. At advanced levels, listening comprehension uses authentic news or TV broadcasts and interviews. The writing test involves producing 400 to 600 characters on a given topic. Reading is reading aloud a passage of 250 characters and answering questions. The revised HSK test includes error identification, fast reading and making summaries. There are also sections on picture descriptions and speaking on given topics. The C-Test has a focus on six levels of workplace proficiency in the areas of international communication such as commerce, trade, culture and education. The test involves an interview consisting of three stages: a warm up to the candidate to feel relaxed and allows him/her to be familiar with the pronunciation of the interviewer; an interactive process, the main body of the test aimed to assess the candidate’s proficiency; and a winding down, aimed to complete the interview in an amicable manner and help the candidate regain his/her confidence. HSK (Revised) and the C-Test are at present still administered on an experimental basis after being examined and approved by special panels of language testing experts in 2007. The rapid growth of these tests is an indication of the developing sophistication of this area of research.

Issues In the course of its developments during the last six decades, there have been disputes and discussions within the TCFL circle on a number of problems of principle. Several of these issues also figure in discussions played out in language teaching journals in general; others are specific to Chinese and to the contexts of TCFL.

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The basic unit of teaching: Words or zi?1 During the 1980s and 1990s, Prof. Xu Tongqiang, a theoretical linguist, repeatedly asserted that zi should be the basic structural unit of the Chinese language instead of words, which is a category borrowed from European linguistics. His assertion aroused a heated argument among China’s linguists and was positively received by a number of TCFL educators (and some overseas Chinese teachers). They agreed with Xu, maintaining that zi should be the basic teaching unit in TCFL. A series of Chinese textbooks have been produced in China and abroad of which the following are representative: the Methode d’Initiation a la Langue et a l’Ecriture Chinoises (Joel and Zhang, 1989) and the Combinative Chinese Series (Lü, forthcoming). Although there are reservations about Xu’s theory, there is general agreement that zi reflects a special feature of the Chinese Language and should be paid more attention to and used in TCFL as well as in studying Chinese linguistics.

Integrated or Skill-Focused Language Teaching Before the early 1980s, TCFL used the model of ‘one textbook, two teachers, three types of classes and four periods’, wherein each group had four periods a day, with the first period being a revision period, the second and third the explanation and exercises periods, respectively, and the fourth the drilling period. One teacher conducted the explanation and exercises in the second and third periods, while another teacher conducted the revision and drilling in the first and fourth periods. Both teachers used the same textbook. During the late 1970s, this model was challenged because it posed many difficulties. Mainly, the teaching effects and efficiency were questioned (see Lu J. J., 2003). At that time, TCFL was preparatory in nature, but in reality, investigation of student performance during their specialty studies revealed they were not well prepared as far as their Chinese proficiency was concerned. Specifically, their listening and reading abilities were not satisfactory (Lu J. J., 2003). This led to a reform of the teaching model characterized by offering separate classes on different language skills instead of only one integrative class. An experimental study conducted in BLCU can well illustrate this point. In this study, the experimental class was taught via the four-skill approach, the control class was taught in the traditional integrative class. At the end of the first year of this study, the experimental class outperformed the control class, especially in listening and reading skills. For instance, the experimental classes were able to understand an unseen text

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of about 1,000 characters after listening to it only once (see more details in the Appendix). Because of its large success, this model of teaching was adopted by BLCU and many other universities; it has been operated for more than a decade, and is still dominant in elementary schools (Cui, 2005). Nonetheless, this model of teaching had received continuing criticisms. One major criticism is that a language is an integral entity and has to be taught in its entirety rather than in a divided form. In recent years, the integrative approach has seen a revival. Besides many ongoing experimental studies, in 2008, BLCU published a set of textbooks titled ‘Road to Success’ adopting the integrative approach. This positive new trend is indicative of the multifarious situation in TCFL research and development.

Which Skill Should be Given Prominence? This question derives from the discussion above. Traditionally, listening and speaking are given prominence, a guiding principle adopted in foreign language teaching in China in consideration of the fact that before the 1980s, foreign language learners did not have appropriate language environments in which they could speak and listen to the languages they were learning. However, the situation is completely different with foreigners learning Chinese in China: they have numerous opportunities to practise listening and speaking. Their difficulties lie in the specialized reading of textbooks and reference books, and listening to specialized lectures given by their instructors who usually speak faster than their TCFL teachers and with various dialectical accents. Therefore, to meet the needs of specialized studies, listening and reading training were given greater focus. Some argue, however, that according to the universal rule of language acquisition, listening and speaking are always the basic abilities that are acquired. Thus, giving prominence to listening and speaking in teaching Chinese to foreigners is perfectly justified. (Du, 1977) What is the purpose of reading and listening comprehension: Overall competence or micro-skills? This is not a question of principle nor is it a difficult question to answer: overall competence and micro-skills training are not contradictory to each other. However, there are differences between them both in theory

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and practice. Some emphasize overall competence while others emphasize micro-skills (Wang 1999: 19 and 76).

Role of grammar or vocabulary in teaching Traditionally, grammar has been taught as systematically as possible and has been the focus at elementary levels. Results for teaching grammar have not been satisfactory and some TCFL teachers have been attempting to find other methods. For example, Yang (2003) suggested that vocabulary should be more emphasized than grammar. He pointed out that his suggestion is based on the characteristics of Chinese, such as words usage. Word forms especially are more important in constructing Chinese sentences than syntax because Chinese, he claimed, is different from European languages, which are hypotactic and Chinese paratactic in nature. On the other hand, teaching of vocabulary goes through the whole process of learning, while the teaching of grammar is the focus at the intermediate and advanced levels. Yang (2003) cited Lu’s view as follows: Vocabulary teaching should be the focus of teaching, especially at the elementary level. To learn Chinese, a foreign learner must have a grasp of a large vocabulary sufficient for communication. Unfortunately, few people have recognized this. (Lu J. M., 2000) Li X. Q. (2003) put forward a lexical-syntactic system as a pedagogic model. She specified three characteristics of a pedagogic grammar for L2 Chinese teaching: it should be based on function and usage; understanding is the result of the interaction of words, grammar and context; and Chinese, just like any other language, consists of ‘grammatized lexis (not lexicalized grammar) and a large number of chunks’ according to modern linguistics (201–209). She suggested that the main points of the model are as follows: a vocabulary-syntax system with form words as the nuclear; giving prominence to the difficult aspects of notional words and emphasizing their uses in collocations; and emphatic consideration of teaching discourse and establishing the tie between grammar and discourse. These suggestions although plausible and useful have not yet become the common understanding among TCFL teachers and have not yet been put into practice. However, time should prove their significance.

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Summary The TCFL in China has expanded dramatically during the last six decades from foreign learners of European backgrounds to learners from most countries and regions around the world. The development of approaches to teaching reflected the broader shifts in modern language teaching, but was also adapted due to factors specific to Chinese contexts and language. Curriculum has also developed rapidly with a recent focus on Chinese in specific contexts. Research into TCFL has had an interactive relationship with developments in the field with the research coming to play a key role in curriculum development, assessment and pedagogy. On the other hand, the field has also been informed by research in linguistics and applied linguistics. The key challenge for TCFL at present is the development of appropriate pedagogies, curriculum and assessment for the range of contexts in which the teaching occurs. It is also the development of stronger links between applied linguistics, research into TCFL and classroom practice.

Note 1

In Chinese, zi may be a pronounced syllable in phonetics, a unit of speech, or a character in writing.

Appendix Table 8.1 Comparison of the listening performance Listening

Experimental class

Regular class

Question types

Multiple choice Q.1 sentences Q.2 dialogue snatches Q.3 story 2,000 Twice Q.1: 160̚180/minute Q.2: 180̚200/minute Q.3: 160̚180/minute

True or false

Total number of characters Times of repetition of reading Speed of reading Number of characters per minute

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Table 8.2 Comparison of the speaking performance Speaking

Experimental class

Questions

Oral composition

Retell a learnt text

Topics (Choose one)

Answer questions on what has been learnt in oral class

Describe a visit Introduce a person

Regular class

Tell something you are interested in since you came to China Tell a story Unprepared dialogue Topic: Watching a performance

Table 8.3 Comparison of the reading performance Reading

Experimental class

Regular class

Material and Questions

Rain (a simplified short story by Ai Wu) Multiple choice (5) Answer questions (5) Fill in blanks (10) Mark the statements that are in accordance with the story (4) Explain words in Chinese (4) 1,600 (characters)

The Wine God Bridge (a simplified folk tale) Multiple choice (10) Retell a learnt text in 200 characters

Read twice at a speed of 100 characters per minute

Read 3 times

Length of the reading materials Requirement

1,100 (characters)

Table 8.4 Writing performance Writing

Experimental class

Regular class

Tasks

Rewrite sentences (10)

Writing test was not available.

Fill in the blanks with words chosen from given ones (10) Write questions on the underlined the parts (but the question using ‘ma’ is excluded) (5) Complete sentences (10) Make sentences (10) Answer a question chosen from the given 2: Talk about the automation of house work in your country. What is the advantage of house work automation? Are you interested in literature? Introduce briefly a writer you are fond of.

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References Cui, Y. H. (2005), Pedagogical Studies in TCFL. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Deng, Y. (1956), ‘Difficulties of foreign students in learning Chinese’, Collected Papers of the Conference on the Standardization of Modern Chinese. Beijing: Sciences Press. Deng, Y. (1994), ‘Those unforgettable years’, Peking University Bulletin (Special issue to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the founding of TFCL Centre). Du, H. W. (1977), ‘Listening and speaking should be more prominent than reading and writing in teaching Chinese for specific purposes’, Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies, 1. Joel, B. and Zhang, P. P.(1989), The Methode d’Initiation a la Langue et a l’Ecriture Chinoises. Paris: La Compagnie France. Li, P. Y. (1988), ‘The main characteristics of TCFL of 1950’s̚1960’s’. Selected Papers of the Second International Symposium on Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language. Beijing: Beijing Language and Culture University Press. Li, X. Q. (2003) ‘On the construction of a pedagogic model for Chinese L2 lexicalsyntax teaching’, Exploring Pedagogic Grammar for TCFL. Beijing: China Social Sciences Press. Lu, J. J. (2003), ‘Paralleling spoken and written Chinese in separate courses and balancing intensive and extensive reading’, Teaching Chinese in the World, 2. Lu, J. M. (2000), ‘Teaching of Grammar in TCFL’, Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies, 3. Lü, B. S. (1977), ‘Some relations to be dealt with in elementary Chinese teaching’, Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies, 2. Lü, B. S. (1987), ‘On the combination of structure, meaning and function in language teaching’. Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, Beijing: Sinolingua. Lü, B. S. (forthcoming), Combinative Chinese Series. Beijing: Peking University Press. Wang, X. Z. and Ke, B. S. (1957), ‘Some basic questions concerning the teaching of Chinese to foreign students’, Teaching and Research (No. 2) and Selected Papers of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language with Commentary (Vol. I). Beijing: Beijing Language Institute Press, 1993. Wang, Z. H. (ed.) (1999), Classroom Chinese Teaching Conventions at the Elementary Stage. Beijing: Beijing Language and Culture University Press. Yang, H. Y. (2003), ‘Reinforce vocabulary teaching and weaken syntax teaching in TCFL’, Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies, 1. Zhou, Z. M. (1953), ‘Some aspects of teaching Chinese to non-Han nationalities’, Chinese Linguistics, 7.

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Chapter 9

Globalization and Language Order: Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language in the United States Minglang Zhou

Introduction In this chapter I review TCFL in the United States in a larger framework: the relationship between globalization and language order. I examine how globalization has changed language order and ideology in the United States since the middle of the twentieth century and how TCFL has been shaped by the evolving language order and ideology during the process of the unfolding globalization. I investigate these issues from three perspectives. First, I argue that societal bi/multilingualism (hereafter, multilingualism) is ordered and introduce a conceptual framework that defines multilingualism as both language ideology and order (Zhou, 2006; 2009a; 2009b). Language ideology is a system of beliefs, assumptions, and so on about the role a language should or should not play in a community, a nation and/or the global community. Language order is a reality of the institutionalized hierarchical relationship among two or more languages in the said communities. Then I review how globalization has changed language order and ideology in the global community, a change that has significant impacts on local communities and entire nations. Second, with this proposed conceptual framework, I briefly review the history of TCFL in the United States in the twentieth century. Against the background of globalization, I scrutinize the role of TCFL at various levels of schools, the access to resources for TCFL, the approach to TCFL, as well as American attitudes towards and motivations in learning Chinese. I outline the relationship between TCFL and language ideology and order in the United States.

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Third, I examine how the current cycle of globalization has been changing language order and ideology in the United States and how this change has led to more Americans learning foreign languages, particularly nonEuropean languages such as Chinese and Arabic. I analyse new policy developments, investigate program implementations in schools and review practices in the field of TCFL in American responses to the demand for multilingual capacities, such as Chinese, brought by a changing global language order during globalization. In my conclusion, I point out that globalization leads to long-term changes of the global language order, which has consequences for local language order and ideology, while the politics of international relations and geopolitics usually brings about short-term changes. TCFL in the United States is a piece of the larger pattern of the global language order change during this accelerating cycle of globalization.

Globalization and Language Order In this section I focus on how globalization affects the relationship among languages in a multilingual nation and the multilingual global community. A distinction is usually made between individual multilingualism and societal multilingualism (Baker, 2006: 2–3); in the latter case multiple languages are used within a group, a nation and the international community. I argue that societal multilingualism is more than the fact of multiple language use. It is a hierarchical relationship with various views accompanying it. To provide a more comprehensive account of societal multilingualism, I have proposed a conceptual framework with two key notions: multilingualism as an ideology and as a language order (Zhou, 2006; 2009a; 2009b). I define the notion of ideology in the Marxist tradition (see Marx and Engels, 1846/1947: 1–78). In this tradition, an ideology is considered a system of ideas, presuppositions and beliefs that are representations of our views of realities or, in Marx and Engels’ term, echoes of our material life. As a superstructure, an ideology reacts with realities in return. This is the relationship between the ideology and the order of multilingualism, where the latter is a reality. As defined, the ideology of multilingualism is a system of ideas, beliefs, assumptions and values about what multilingualism is or isn’t and what multilingualism does or doesn’t do. As such, some dimensions of this system may be official while others are simply common sense; some may be legislated for whereas others are legislated against; some dimensions may

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be institutionalized but others are marginalized (see Galindo, 1997). Multilingualism as an ideology is powerful and may sustain or constrain multilingualism as individual abilities and as social practices because it functions as the parameter within which we perceive, understand and handle individual and societal multilingualism. As realities, societal multilingualism is always ordered as an institutionalized hierarchical relationship between two or more languages spoken in a local community, a nation and the global community. When two or more languages are spoken in a community, their speakers engage in a power struggle for dominance (see Calvet, 1998; Ioannidou, 1999). This struggle decides which language is adopted for official business and becomes the one in which knowledge is created, transmitted and deposited. The chosen language has full access to, or a monopoly on, political, legal, institutional, human, financial and discourse resources, while other languages have only partial or no access to these resources. In this way these languages form a hierarchy in a multilingual community, a hierarchy that I call ‘language order’. In this order, the most resourceful and powerful language is the superior language; other languages are subordinate and may be further ranked according to their access to these resources: the less access they have, the lower ranks they have. Currently, globalization has produced a global language order that has at least three main strata, with English as the super language, some regional languages in the middle and numerous local languages at the bottom (see Fishman, 1998/1999), while each nationstate may have its own order within the global frame. However, globalization transforms the borders of nation-states, and thus allows more impact of the global language order on the local language order. These are realities of multilingualism. In this conceptual framework, the notion of multilingualism as a language order is the basis or reality on which the notion of multilingualism as an ideology operates. Multilingualism as an ideology recognizes explicitly or implicitly the hierarchical relations between two languages, or among more languages, used by individuals or communities, and serves to maintain or reconstruct this order. Multilingualism as an ideology represents the views and beliefs regarding how a language order should be maintained or reconstructed. Individual and societal multilingualism is seen as a problem when this order needs to be built and maintained, as a threat when this order is challenged, as a right when the order should be rebalanced, and as a resource when this order needs to be reinforced. Multilingualism as an order and ideology is often shaped by economic, political and religious factors in its ecology. Here I briefly review the impact

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of globalization on multilingualism. Scholars may have different views of globalization, but generally agree that globalization is not new. Coatsworth (2004) suggests that globalization has been seen in four cycles: (1) the colonization of the Americas and the cross-Atlantic trade from 1492 to the early 1600s; (2) the cross-ocean slavery trade and the establishment of slavery plantations in the New World from 1650 to 1790; (3) a huge increase in international trade, capital, technology and population flows from the late 1800s to the 1930s; and (4) the unfolding cycle after the Second World War. These four cycles have changed multilingualism in different ways. During the first two cycles of globalization, Spanish emerged as a strong challenger to the existing world language order and created a completely new language order in the Americas and parts of Africa (Steward, 1999: 3–10), though French remained at the top of European languages and maintained its ideological superiority (Calvet, 1998: 47–50). The third cycle of globalization produced a successful challenger, the English language. It not only changed language orders geographically across the Atlantic Ocean, and entered the Pacific and the Indian oceans as colonialism spread (see Crystal, 2003: 29–58; Dixon, 1997: 103), but also came to dominate fields that emerged during this cycle, such as trade, science and technology. The position of English in the global language order has been strengthened during the current unfolding cycle of globalization, while challengers, such as Russian, Japanese and Chinese, have subsequently risen on the scene. This is because this cycle of globalization makes connections in the world closer through international institutions, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), faster by technology, such as computers, the internet and satellites, and broader and deeper by the rather free movement of people, capital, goods, jobs, services, information, ideas and values that lead to so-called knowledge economies, new democracies and a new world order. China has taken full advantage of this cycle of globalization and risen rapidly as an economic superpower in the last two decades. As such, China is seeking a global projection of its soft power corresponding to its economic power (Huang and Ding, 2006). One of the specific initiatives made by China in its efforts is its ‘Mandarin offensive’ – its efforts to promote Chinese language globally, in what is considered language planning in China’s sphere of influence, beyond its territorial jurisdiction and sovereignty (Bianco, 2007; Ding and Saunders, 2006). China’s initiative challenges the existing global language order and has consequences reaching as far as the United States. When the global language order is challenged, the impact may be seen in a local community and/or a nation unless it is

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not globally connected. Being a locus of the unfolding cycle of globalization, the United States stands as a good example of a receiver of this impact even though its first language, English, is the super language of the global language order.

Language Order and Ideology: Brief History of TCFL in the United States The history of TCFL in the United States cannot be fully understood without a grasp of the development of American language order and ideology, where the teaching of a second language and a foreign language can hardly be separated because of the continuous influx of immigrants, and the effects of American policies and attitudes towards immigration. Individual and societal multilingualism has been practiced in the United States at least since the 1600s and bilingual education has been found in public schools as early as the 1820s and 1830s when, for example, Pennsylvania passed a law permitting German-English education in public schools (Schiffman, 1996; Wiley, 2002). However, the ideology of English monolingualism frequently surged to maintain the unchallenged position of the established language order. English monolingualism promoted a melting-pot mythology, according to which immigrants were supposed to shift from their first languages into English in three generations (see Dicker, 1996: 34–71). To achieve that goal, for example, monolingualism frequently promoted legislations banning foreign language instruction in both public and private schools in the early twentieth century. When that goal was racially charged, discriminatory laws were passed to isolate Chinese immigrants and choke off their growth in numbers, leaving no room for their language in education in the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century (see Wang, 2007; 2008). This unfolding cycle of globalization first impacted language order and ideology as the Cold War intensified. Multilingualism as an independent and pro-pluralism ideology emerged along with the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, both as responses to moral competition from communist countries (see Dudziak, 2000; Gaines, 2006; Skrentny, 1998). If the Civil Rights Movement fought for equal rights for people of colour, the ideology of multilingualism then sought linguistic rights for linguistic minorities (see Ricento, 1998). Thus, this ideology began to seek the rebalance of the language order in the United States. Starting with the Dade County (Florida) public schools’ bilingual program in 1961 and culminating in the

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Bilingual Education Act being signed into law in 1968, multilingualism as an ideology promoted linguistic rights for minorities by demanding the redistribution of political, legal, human and financial resources from monoEnglish programs to bilingual programs in public schools, as exemplified in the Lau decision by the US Supreme Court in 1974. This decision not only gave Chinese (Cantonese, in this case) but all languages other than English a legal status, making them an option along with English in public schools (Schiffman, 1996: 241). Monolingualism counter-attacked as the ‘English Only’ movement (see Dicker, 2000; Fishman, 1988/2006), which aimed at suppressing multilingualism as an ideology and at outlawing bilingual education. Serious challenges to the existing language ideology and order in the United States did not appear until the current cycle of globalization began to unfold rapidly, marked by the end of the Cold War in 1992, China’s entrance into the WTO, and the terrorist attack on 11 September 2001. In the monolingualism-dominated United States, Chinese and other nonEuropean languages were marginalized at the bottom of the language order, and had opportunities only when globalization had an impact on the existing order. This is particularly evident in the case of TCFL. TCFL started at Yale University in 1871, with other prestigious universities and colleges following as the United States entered the twentieth century (see Tsu, 1970). John B. Tsu categorized TCFL in the United States into three stages: the initial (1870s–1930s), the Second World War period (1940s), and the Cold War period (1950s–1960s). The global motivation for TCFL is explicit for the second and third periods, but not for the initial one. Still, to a large extent, the initial stage of TCFL was also globally motivated. During the turn of the twentieth century, TCFL and other China courses were offered in American colleges to meet the increasing needs of American Christian missionaries to China, where church-affiliated schools began educationbased mission programs. Given the nature of the mission, TCFL relied heavily on literary Chinese and the grammar-translation method, using the Wade-Giles Romanization system, though it was not familiar to most Americans. TCFL was not broadly extended beyond elite schools until the Second World War. First, in preparation for the war, the US Army and Air Force asked schools with Chinese programs to teach Chinese to their troops. These non-traditional students had non-traditional needs – fast mastery of the oral language, at the expense of the written language, for military purposes. To meet this challenge, TCFL saw three revolutions (Griggs, 1948; Tsu, 1970). First, Prof. George Kennedy at Yale University developed a Yale Romanization system based on American English spelling to replace

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the Wade-Giles system. This system made it much easier for Americans to learn Chinese without learning the difficult characters or using the unfamiliar Wade-Giles Romanization. Second, language laboratories were used to provide learners with extended hours of contact with native speakers’ voices, though native Chinese instructors already met small groups of military students for six hours per day (Duggan, 1944). Third and most important, the audio-lingual method emerged in TCFL classrooms where, for the first time, written Chinese was pedagogically separable from oral Chinese. This approach met the need for American soldiers to obtain rapid oral skills in Chinese. The war’s impact on foreign language learning gradually decreased in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and even the popularity of Russian waned by 1955 (Brownell, 1955). The decreased interest demonstrates that political influence alone may not fundamentally change the existing language ideology and order. The real challenge came when the current cycle of globalization really began to unfold with the former Soviet Union’s launch of the Sputnik satellite in 1957, which forced the United States to respond technically, militarily and linguistically (see Dicker, 2000). The linguistic response is seen in the Defense Act of 1958 and the Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961, which had extensive impact on TCFL (Tsu, 1970). The Defense Act funded half of the budget to establish centres for 24 languages and area studies that engaged in TCFL in higher education (15 at the graduate level, 6 at the undergraduate level, and the rest at both graduate and undergraduate levels). It also provided graduate fellowships to graduate students studying Chinese, awarded contracts to Chinese faculty to compile textbooks and do language research, and supported study-abroad programs for American students and seminars for American scholars in Taiwan. At the same time, the Fulbright program sponsored many American scholars to study and do research in Taiwan and Taiwanese scholars to study and do research in the United States, benefiting both linguistic and cultural exchanges. The result is obvious: the number of college students learning Chinese increased from 1,844 in 1960 to 6,238 in 1970. The impact of these two pieces of legislation on TCFL went beyond the direct beneficiaries of those Centres, the graduate and undergraduate students, and the faculty. They raised in general the awareness of Chinese as a critical foreign language in higher education. Thus, the number of universities offering Chinese increased from under 100 to about 200 in the following few years (see Tsu, 1970). At the same time, John B. Tsu, head of the Chinese and Japanese program at Seton Hall University (New Jersey), engaged Dr Gordon Thayer, principal of the Thayer Academy, an

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independent, college preparatory day school for boys and girls in Grades 6 through 12 in Massachusetts, and Dr K. Y. Hsu, chairman of the Modern Language Department at San Francisco State College, in an initiative to introduce Chinese to secondary schools (see Tsu, 1970). Their initiative was supported by the Carnegie Foundation, which made the first round of grants in 1962 to Seton Hall University for the New York–New Jersey metropolitan area, to San Francisco State College for the bay area, and to Thayer Academy for Boston area. The Carnegie Foundation added the Evanston (Illinois) Township High School for the Chicago area, Washington University in St Louis for the St Louis area, and the University of Southern California for the Los Angeles area in its second and third grant making in 1963 and 1964 (Furman et al., 2007). The US Office of Education actively responded to this initiative (Tsu, 1970). It first supported San Francisco State College’s expansion of its summer institute for foreign language teachers to include nine high school teachers of Chinese in 1961. To meet the expected needs of high schools, the office funded Seton Hall University’s summer institute for teachers of Chinese in 1962. The office continued funding for these two institutions up to 1969, and they developed a study-abroad program in Taiwan, and a full-year program, respectively. Meanwhile, the US Office of Education funded Seton Hall’s and San Francisco State’s efforts to compile Chinese textbooks for high schools (Tsu, 1970). Led by Dr Hsu, the program at San Francisco State published four volumes of Mandarin Chinese for high schools. At Seton Hall, Dr Tsu commissioned Dr John DeFrancis for the task, who compiled what is now known as the ‘DeFrancis Series’ published by Yale University Press. This series included Beginning Chinese (1963), Intermediate Chinese Reader (1964) and Advanced Chinese (1966), all of which were published in three sets: conversations in the Yale system, conversation in Chinese characters and reading materials in Chinese characters. Through these efforts, over 230 high schools had TCFL programs in 1960 when the Carnegie initiative ended (see Tsu, 1970). The number of students enrolled in TCFL programs in secondary schools rose from 309 to 2,096 in 1968 (Moore et al., 1992). However, without fundamental changes to the language ideology and order, TCFL suffered a setback at the secondary level after the Carnegie initiative ended in 1969. In the following year, the number of students who took Chinese decreased from over 2,000 to 1,345. When the Dodge Foundation launched its initiative solely devoted to TCFL in secondary education in 1982, only 2 of the 200-plus Carnegie-funded schools still had active Chinese language programs, and fewer than 10 students studied Chinese at

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each one of 20 schools (Moore et al., 1992). The Dodge initiative was built on the Carnegie initiative, but focused on high schools (and also funded some elementary schools). With an initial commitment of $800,000 for 20 schools, the foundation invested several million dollars in 60 schools between 1983 and 1992. It encouraged those schools to hire their own Chinese language teachers, including bringing teachers from China, and also supported summer workshops for those teachers, commissioned the development of a textbook, the Chinese Primer (Harvard University Press), and established a secondary school Chinese language Centre at Princeton University. On the other hand, higher education saw a more steady, though, slow growth in TCFL. After the so-called Ping Pong Diplomacy and Nixon’s visit to China in the early 1970s, Americans’ interest in China increased, and so did the number of college students taking Chinese. The enrolment increased from 6,238 in 1970 to 11,366 in 1980, and further to 19,490 in 1990 (Furman et al., 2007). This stage saw three fundamental changes in TCFL. First, study-abroad programs in China were initiated and expanded. After exchange programs were initiated between the United States and China in 1979, about 1,000 American students studied in China in 3 years (Blumenthal, 1981). By the early 1990s, most research universities and elite liberal arts colleges had independent or consortium study-abroad programs in China. Second, Pinyin and simplified characters were introduced and spread in Chinese classrooms in American universities. Foreseeing expanded exchange with Mainland China, Dr Tsu recommended Pinyin to Dr DeFrancis, who published the first Chinese textbook in Pinyin in the United States in 1976 when he revised Beginning Chinese of the DeFrancis series. The series became the most popular Chinese textbooks in the 1970s, and in the 1980s was used along with the Beijing Language Institute’s Elementary Chinese Reader, which was written in simplified characters. Third, many Chinese students who studied in graduate programs in TESOL, applied linguistics and linguistics became Chinese language teaching assistants or instructors who energized Chinese language classrooms. In Chinese classrooms, they practiced what they learned in language pedagogy classes. Their approaches included the Silent Way, Suggestopedia, Community Language Learning, the Total Physical Response Method and the Communicative Approach, which were usually applied in various hybrid forms. These hybrid approaches were significantly different from the GrammarTranslation Method or the Audio-Lingual Method adopted in Chinese programs, where the focus previously was on the literary language and literature. TCFL in the United States evolved slowly to embrace challenges brought by intensified globalization at the turn of the twenty-first century.

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Globalization and Current TCFL in the United States The global language order began to change, and had an impact on language ideology and order in the United States, at the turn of the twenty-first century. When the Cold War ended in the early 1990s, the United States correctly realized that tougher competition was ahead, even linguistically, as globalization accelerated. The National Security Education Act of 1991 was passed to educate American citizens to understand foreign cultures, to strengthen American economic competitiveness, and to enhance international cooperation and security (http://www.ndu.edu/nsep/). The events of 9/11, the war on terror and the war in Iraq have reaffirmed that, for national security purposes, no nation-state may safely disengage from globalization. None of these events was local because they all have had global connections. Terrorists have global organizations, and they communicate with each other and coordinate their actions globally via the internet and cell phones (Cronin, 2003). American strategists now realize that any failure in US efforts in these areas may result from the lack of linguistic and cultural competence to handle global problems locally. The immediate US response was the National Flagship Language Initiative, authorized in 2002 to produce advanced language-proficient students in languages critical to American national security (initially focusing on Arabic, Chinese, Korean and Russian) (http://www.ndu.edu/nsep/). Further, in 2004, the US Congress amended the National Security Education Act of 1991 to strengthen the National Flagship Language Initiative and to provide scholarships for heritage speakers of languages, including Chinese, critical to American national security. In January 2006, an unprecedented summit between the US government and college presidents was held to talk about how to better engage American higher education with the world. During the summit, then-President George W. Bush announced a $114 million National Security Language Initiative to increase the teaching of critical foreign languages (Bollag and Field, 2006). Multilingual competence is not only crucial to US national security but also to its economic competitiveness in this cycle of globalization (Kramsch, 2005). In the economic sphere, multilingual competence becomes linguistic capital for individuals and societies, a linguistic commodity for sale on the market, and a tool for linguistic competitiveness for a nation-state and/ or a multinational corporation. Without sufficient linguistic and cultural competence to understand and to compete in local markets, a multinational business may fail miserably, as the seemingly invincible Wal-Mart did in South Korea and Germany. With sophisticated linguistic and cultural

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competence, a multinational business may succeed in local markets, as Starbucks Coffee and Hagen Dazs have done in China. Hagen Dazs’ most popular advertisement in China is, ‘Do you love me? If you do, treat me with Hagen Dazs’, written in Chinese (Ni ai wo ma? Ai wo jiu qing wo chi hagendasi!). It appeals to young couples in China, where courting young men faithfully treat their sweethearts with literally billions of scoops of Hagen Dazs. Multilingualism appears to make or break a global business in local markets, even giant businesses, in the age of globalization. Multilingualism as a resource sells in globalization. Chinese language is a good example as China emerges as an economic superpower, the beginnings of which, marked by China’s entrance into WTO in 2000, were not fully recognized in the United States until recently. However, American schools, particularly the primary and secondary ones, are not considered ready to handle the change of the changing global language order and the economic challenges brought by an emerging China, according to a 2005 report by the Asian Society (‘Expanding Chinese Language Capacity in the United States’, available at www.internationaled.org). The reported recommended (1) that innovative approaches be taken to train K-12 Chinese language teachers; (2) that efforts be made to translate the nation’s interest in China and Chinese language into highquality school programs; (3) that media and technology, such as distance education and online courses, be innovatively used to make connections to students in China and to provide broad access for American students; and (4) that long-term national investment and strategies, like the National Language Defense Education Act of 1958, which came right after the Soviet launch of Sputnik in 1957, should be made to meet science and foreign language needs during the rapidly unfolding globalization. Meanwhile, actions have recently been taken in the US Congress specifically in response to the emergence of China as an economic superpower. In May 2005, the US-China Cultural Engagement Act was introduced in the Senate to promote a strategy as a peaceful response to China’s rise (http:// www.fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id=1489&issue_id=103). If passed, the legislation would authorize $1.3 billion over six years for these programs: (1) Chinese language education for middle and high schools and universities; (2) education exchange with China; (3) expanded business and consular presence in China; and (4) the establishment of a US-China Engagement Council in the US State Department. More recently, in May 2009, two pieces of legislation have been introduced in the House of Representatives. The US-China Language Engagement Act asks the appropriation of $70 million for programs for Chinese

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language, and $70 million for cultural instruction and school language technology enhancement, both for elementary and secondary schools, for three years from 2010 to 2014 (www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h2313/ text). The act intends to support the following programs: intensive summer Chinese language instruction programs for professional development; to link English and Chinese bilingual speakers in the community with elementary and secondary schools in order to promote two-way language learning; to promote the sequential study of Chinese language for students, beginning with elementary schools; to make effective use of technology to promote Chinese language study; to promote innovative activities, such as Chinese language immersion, partial Chinese language immersion, or content-based instruction; and to promote a comprehensive approach to learning Chinese, which includes programs on the history and culture of China. The act also intends to support the use of language technology that will allow the conduct of virtual exchanges with schools or other educational institutions in China. Similar efforts related to Chinese language and cultural studies are seen in the other proposed legislation. In addition to promoting public diplomacy and increasing the number of diplomats and consulates in China in 2010, the US-China Diplomatic Expansion Act of 2009 proposes to make the following appropriations to the Secretary of State for fiscal year 2010: 1. $2 million for Chinese language teacher exchanges with China; 2. $2 million for Chinese Fulbright Language Teaching Assistants; 3. $2 million for Fulbright Critical Language Scholarships in Chinese language; 4. $1 million for the Gilman Critical Language Scholarships in Chinese language; and 5. $3 million for Intensive Language Summer Institutes in China. These pieces of legislation demonstrate US awareness of the changing global language order and US efforts at rebalancing the US language order. These recent official initiatives actually trailed the steps of those in the private sphere. As early as 1999, the Luce Foundation launched a 4-year and $12 million Luce Fund to strengthen the study of Asia at the undergraduate level in American liberal arts colleges (http://www.hluce.org/ lfasianstudies.aspx). This initiative helped 38 colleges to create new Asian studies positions. Most of these new hires were China studies or Chinese

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language professors who broadened existing programs or initiated new Chinese language programs. At the same time, in 2000, the Freeman Foundation undertook a $100 million 4-year initiative to strengthen Asian studies at the undergraduate level in American universities and colleges (http:// www.pubpol.duke.edu/dfrp/cases/descriptive/asian_studies). The initiative funded over 100 faculty positions and over 1,000 new courses, many of which are China-related, including TCFL. The foundation also funded the Freeman Asia program, which has supported over 2,000 students and more than 600 faculty members to study and do research in Asia, including China. Recently the foundation started the second phase of this initiative and announced the first round of grant recipients in 2008. Since the 1990s, TCFL in the United States has benefitted from the rising interest in China as an emerging superpower. The first indicator is the steady increase of students enrolled in Chinese classes in colleges across the United States during the turn of the century, as shown in Table 9.1: The number of college students studying Chinese has been rising rapidly since 2006, but official numbers are not available yet. Facing increasing numbers of students taking Chinese since the 1990s, American universities and colleges have generally not taken specific initiatives on their own but have actively responded to both private and federal initiatives as well as to the efforts by the PRC Hanban (the National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language or NOTCFL in short) to reach out to TCFL efforts globally. This situation results from the reality that resources at American universities have been stretched, and also from their generally deep entrenchment in the Eurocentric language order and ideology. For these reasons, most of the Chinese language programs at American universities rely more on outside resources for expansion and pedagogical innovations. This situation does not help the field of TCFL, where no fundamental changes have taken place to meet the challenge since the l990s. Chinese language teachers are consequently stretched thin and they are less likely to participate in professional development workshops. The more they lag behind new developments in second language acquisition theories and Table 9.1 Number of American college students in Chinese classes Year Number of Students

1990 19,490

1995 26,471

1998 28,456

2002 34,153

2006 51,582

Source : Furman et al., 2007

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applications, the more difficult it is for them to catch up. Furthermore, the adoption of research results from teaching other languages, even those findings by researchers in TCFL (see Ke and Shen, 2003 for specifics) are not widely consulted for Chinese language classroom applications. Thus, TCFL teachers are often perceived as resistant to such new developments (see Ning, 2001). A more fundamental problem lies in the fact that many Chinese language teachers are trained in East Asian languages and cultures departments where the focus of training is generally on literature and cultural studies, with little or no preparation in language pedagogy. Because they are underprepared, the trainees have to learn the tips of language teaching on the job when they are hired into Chinese language programs, where language and literature teaching are often entangled. If TCFL is to meet the public needs, Chinese language pedagogy is crucial, but it has barely emerged as a field of study (see McGinnis, 1996). TCFL teachers’ training and practice significantly determine the TCFL textbook market since textbooks provide comfort zones for TCFL teachers in their classroom work (see Ning, 2001). Both TCFL textbook development and adoption represent this reality. As communicative and proficiency-oriented approaches began to be broadly promoted in foreign language classrooms in the United States in the 1990s, attempts were made along this orientation in TCFL textbook development, as exemplified by the popularity of Integrated Chinese (Cheng and Tsui Company, 1998). On the communicative dimension, Integrated Chinese uses topics as units of organization so that information gaps can easily be taken advantage of in proficiencyoriented classrooms, if a teacher intends to go into that area. On the other side, Integrated Chinese retains pattern drills and a grammar section for TCFL teachers who rely on more traditional approaches. Equally popular in TCFL textbook adoption in the 1990s was Practical Chinese Reader, and now New Practical Chinese Reader has probably become more popular than any other TCFL textbook since its publication in the early 2000s. Structurally and pedagogically, New Practical Chinese Reader is not different from its old version except for the addition of some communicative tasks. However, it gives TCFL teachers the comfort zone they need in classroom applications regardless of their training and pedagogical orientations. Further, TCFL teachers’ use of non-traditional electronic materials and electronic tools reflects their pedagogical orientations as well as their e-proficiency, which is largely generation specific, though there are plenty of channels and materials out there (see Bai, 2003; Xie, 2002; Yao, 1996; Zhang, 1998). As Information Technology (IT) for TCFL matures and younger TCFL teachers’ e-proficiency increases, the use of e-materials and e-tools may be seen

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more broadly in Chinese classrooms than the adoption of new pedagogical approaches there, though the use of e-tools may not be more efficient if not combined with appropriate pedagogical approaches. Satisfying the demand for TCFL in secondary education may experience the same bottleneck as that seen in higher education. According to the 2008 ACTFL report (available at http://www.actfl.org/files/public/ ACTFL_Final_2008_completeLOW.pdf), the organization surveyed 152,800 high school students between August 2007 and January 2008. The results show that, following French, Italian, Spanish, German and Japanese, Chinese has become the sixth most popular foreign language, with about 17% of the surveyed students showing the most interest in learning it, though only fewer than 1% of them were actually studying Chinese. High schools take students’ interests into account in their planning. In 2005, there were already 2,400 schools that had expressed the intention of offering Chinese classes. In 2009, more than 700 schools are actually offering Chinese classes, while 4,500 have expressed an interest in doing so. For example, with their own Confucius Institute, Chicago public schools lead the country in Chinese language teaching, with some 12,000 students enrolled at 43 schools (http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/wjb/zwjg/zwbd/ t560425.htm). In addition to the changing global language order, other infrastructure development has played a significant role in encouraging interest from schools and students. As early as 2003, the College Board announced the creation of AP Chinese language and culture examination, with financial assistance from China (http://www.collegeboard.com/press/releases/ 30831.html). In 2006, the College Board and Hanban launched an initiative to support the growing needs in American secondary schools (http://www. collegeboard.com/press/releases/51453.html). This initiative includes (1) the placement of 150 guest TCFL teachers from China in American classrooms over 3 years; (2) opportunities for 600 American TCFL teachers to attend intensive summer institutes in China; (3) support for nearly 300 American teacher candidates in their efforts to attain state certification to teach Chinese; (4) annual opportunities for 400 American educators to travel to China during the summer to become familiar with China’s people, language, culture and education systems; and (5) support for nearly 2,000 schools to manage the introduction or expansion of their Chinese language programs. In practice, efforts beyond these initiatives were made to accommodate the growing interest. For example, the second annual Chinese bridge delegation, a week-long program in China for educators to strengthen their institution’s Chinese programs and partnerships, had 800 American

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secondary educators for the trip to China in 2007 (http://www.collegeboard.com/press/releases/180235.html). When the first group of guest TCFL teachers arrived from China in January 2007, the new plan was to increase the number of guest teachers from 150 to 250 by 2009 (http:// www.collegeboard.com/press/releases/152561.html). These guest teachers would certainly face some difficulties in American classrooms. One of those impediments is their pedagogical approach to beginners of Chinese as a foreign language. TCFL teachers from China have little or no experience in teaching beginners, and they lack the kind of pedagogical flexibility commonly seen in American classrooms. Eventually, the shortage of TCFL teachers in American schools has to be solved right here at home. Recently some American universities began to offer TCFL certificate or/ and master’s programs, with financial assistance from China’s Hanban. For example, in Maryland, programs have been developed at the University of Maryland, College Park and at Towson University, which started with the first class in fall 2009. In a few years, all these efforts at the secondary school level will put more pressure on TCFL at the college level although most American universities appear to be unprepared or underprepared, in terms of staffing and course offerings, for the likely waves of Chinese-speaking freshmen. American universities are still waiting for more private and federal initiatives to handle the coming challenge – a challenge of globalization in the twenty-first century.

Conclusion The teaching and learning of a foreign language fluctuate, in the short term, in any given country, as international relations and geopolitics go. A good case of this situation is the teaching and learning of Russian in China in the 1950s and early 1960s. However, in the long term, interest and investment in the teaching and learning of a foreign language in a country are determined by the global language order. The global language order has been undergoing slow but steady changes in the last few centuries, tied to the rate of globalization. Globalization has accelerated in the last few decades. The rapid rise of China as an economic superpower in about two decades stands as the best example of this accelerating cycle of globalization. As an economic superpower, China seeks a change of the global language order as an element of its projection of soft power (see Ding and Saunders, 2006).

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A changing global language order has consequences for the existing language order in any given country, as long as it is globally connected. As the locus of the current cycle of globalization, the United States has experienced, probably more than any other country, the impact of the changing global language order. It needs more and more multilingual capacities, such as Chinese, Arabic and Hindu, to meet pressing security and economic challenges globally. Given the relationship between language order and ideology, the ideology of the existing order and that of the changing order both seek to maintain their status, leading to struggles and clashes of ideologies inside and outside language classrooms. For example, it has been observed that the ‘No Child Left Behind Act’ comes in conflict with other legislation, such as the National Security Education Act of 1991, in that the former promotes English literacy to such a degree that it leads to the termination or marginalization of bilingual education programs and foreign language programs (Wang, 2007). The field of TCFL in the United States will have its share in this conflict from elementary schools to colleges and to graduate schools, the impact of which will be seen in Chinese language program development and TCFL teacher training, and will be felt in the whole field of TCFL in the United States.

References Bai, J. H. (2003), ‘Making multimedia an integral part of curricular innovation’, Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association, 38, (2), 1–16. Baker, C. (2006), Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (4th edition). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Bianco, J. L. (2007), ‘Emergent China and Chinese: Language planning categories’, Language Policy, 6, (1), 3–26. Blumenthal, P. (1981), American Study Programs in China: An Interim Report Card. Washington, DC: US-China Education Clearinghouse. Bollag, B. and Field, K. (2006), ‘Foreign students: Uncle Sam wants you’, viewed 27 April 2010, http://chronicle.com/article/Foreign-Students-Uncle-Sam/6171/ Brownell, S. (1955), ‘Foreign language teaching and the Office of Education’, The Modern Language Journal, 39, (5), 221–227. Calvet, L. J. (1998), Language Wars and Linguistic Politics. Oxford: Oxford University. Coatsworth, J. (2004), ‘Globalization, growth, and welfare in history’, in M. M. SuarezOrozco and D. B. Qin-Hilliard (eds), Globalization: Culture and Education in the New Millennium. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 38–55. Cronin, A. K. (2003), ‘Behind the curve: Globalization and international terrorism’, International Security, 27, (3), 30–58. Crystal, D. (2003), English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Dicker, S. J. (1996), Languages in America: A Pluralist View. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Dicker, S. J. (2000), ‘Official English and bilingual education: The controversy over language pluralism in U.S. society’, in J. K. Hall and W. g. Eggington (eds), The Sociopolitics of English Language Teaching. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, pp. 45–66. Ding, S. and Saunders, R. A. (2006), ‘Talking up Chinese: An analysis of China’s rising cultural power and global promotion of the Chinese language’, East Asia, 23, (2), 3–33. Dixon, R. M. W. (1997), The Rise and Fall of Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dudziak, M. L. (2000), Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Duggan, S. (1944), ‘Teaching foreign languages’, The Modern Language Journal, 28, (7), 552–554. Fishman, J. (1998/1999), ‘The new linguistic order’, Foreign Policy, 113, 26–38. Fishman, J. (1988/2006), ‘ “English only”: Its ghosts, myths and dangers’, in N. Hornberger and M. Pütz (eds), Language Loyalty, Language Planning and Language Revitalization: Recent Writings and Reflections from Joshua A. Fishman. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, pp. 179–194. Furman, N., Goldberg, D. and Lusin, N. (2007), ‘Enrollments in languages other than English in United States Institutions of Higher Education’, viewed Fall 2006, http://www.mla.org/pdf/06enrollmentsurvey_final.pdf Gaines, K. (2006), ‘A world to win: The international dimension of the black freedom movement’, Magazine of History, 20, (5), 14–18. Galindo, R. (1997), ‘Language wars: The ideological dimensions of the debates on bilingual education’, Bilingual Research Journal, 21, (2 and 3), 163–201. Griggs, T. (1948), ‘Chinese language program for foreign service officers’, The Modern Language Journal, 32, (2), 101–107. Huang, Y. Z. and Ding, S. (2006), ‘Dragon’s underbelly: An analysis of China’s soft power’, East Asia, 23, (4), 22–44. Ioannidou, E. (1999), The Battlefield of Language: The Interplay of Power and Ideology in Language Policy. Centre for Language in Education Briefing Document no. 10. ERIC, ED477232. Washington, DC. Ke, C. R. and Shen, H. L. (2003), ‘Meiguo hanyu jiaoxue lilun yanjiu shuping’ [A review of theoretical research in teaching Chinese as foreign language in the US], Yuyan Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu [Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies], 89, (3), 2–17. Kramsch, C. (2005), ‘Post 9/11: Foreign languages between knowledge and power’, Applied Linguistics, 26, 545–567. McGinnis, S. (1996) (ed.), Chinese Pedagogy: An Emerging Field. Columbus, OH: National Foreign Language Resource Centre. Marx, K. and Engels, F. (1846/1947), The German Ideology. New York: International Press. Moore, S. J., Walton A. R. and Lambert R. D. (1992), ‘Introducing Chinese into high schools: The Dodge initiative’, National Foreign Language Centre Monograph Series, viewed 27 April 2010, http://www.eric.ed.gov:80/ERICWebPortal/cus-

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tom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_Sea rchValue_0=ED348871&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED348871 Ning, C. Y. (2001), ‘Second-language studies and college-level Chinese-language textbooks in the United States’, China Review International, 8, (1), 34–56. Ricento, T. (1998), ‘National language policy in the United States’, in T. Ricento and B. Burnaby (eds), Language and Politics in the United States and Canada: Myths and Realities. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Schiffman, H. F. (1996), Linguistic Culture and Language Policy. London: Routledge. Skrentny, D. J. (1998), ‘The effect of the Cold War on African-American civil rights: America and the world audience, 1945–1968’, Theory and Society, 27, (2), 237–285. Steward, M. (1999), The Spanish Language Today. London: Routledge. Tsu, J. B. (1970), ‘The teaching of Chinese in colleges and schools of the United States’, The Modern Language Journal, 54, (8), 562–579. Wang, S. C. (2007), ‘Building societal capital: Chinese in the U.S’, Language Policy, 6, (1), 27–52. Wang, S. C. (2008), ‘The ecology of the Chinese language in the United States’, in A. C. P. Martin and N. H. Hornberger (eds), Encyclopedia of Language and Education, 2nd edition, Vol. 9. Boston: Springer, pp. 169–180. Wiley, T. G. (2002), ‘Accessing language rights in education: A brief history of the U.S. context’, in J. W. Tollefson (ed.), Language Policies in Education: Critical Issues. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 39–64. Xie, T. W. (2002), ‘Using internet relay chat in teaching Chinese’, CALIC Journal, 19, (3), 513–524. Yao, T. C. (1996), ‘A review of some computer-assisted language learning (CALL) materials for Chinese’, in S. McGinnis (ed.), Chinese Pedagogy: An Emerging Field. Columbus, OH: National Foreign Language Resource Centre at the Ohio State University, pp. 255–284. Zhang, Z. S. (1998), ‘Call for Chinese – issues and practice’, Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association, 33, (1), 51–82. Zhou, M. (2006), ‘Globalization and language education in America and China: Bi/ multilingualism as an ideology and linguistic order’. Invited speech at the GSE colloquium at the University of Pennsylvania, 30 November 2006. Zhou, M. (2009a), ‘Linguistic diversity and language harmony in contemporary China’, Chinese Education and Society, 41, (6), 3–9. Zhou, M. (2009b), ‘Yuyan yishi xingtai he yuyan zhixu: Quanqiuhua yu zhong mei liangguo de duoyu jiaoyu zhanlu’ [Language ideology and order: Multilingual education in the U.S. and China during globalization], Journal of Jinan University (Philosophy and Social Science Edition), 138, (1), 45–56.

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Chapter 10

Educating Chinese Language Teachers – Some Fundamentals Jane Orton

Introduction When Mme Liu Yandong, State Councillor and Chair of the Council of Confucius Institute Headquarters, visited the United States in April 2009, she was ‘greatly moved by the passion of our American friends for learning Chinese language’. She promised Chinese language teachers and volunteers to help with the training of American Chinese language teachers (Xu, 2009). Addressing the National Conference on Chinese Language Teaching, Chicago, May 2009, Jon Huntsman Jr, then Governor of Utah and currently American Ambassador to China, illustrated clearly the passion Mme Liu had noticed by announcing that in September 2009 Utah would simultaneously launch new Chinese language programs in 82 of its primary schools. Governor Huntsman said that his State, however, was still seeking teachers to staff the programs. In response, China’s National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, better known by its abbreviated Chinese name, the Hanban, agreed to provide Utah with 22 teachers, part of a total of some 200 Mainland teachers of Chinese working in the United States. The rapid growth in American interest in Chinese has been matched in other English-speaking countries, and responses from national and Chinese authorities have been similar to those reported above. Some fundamental considerations provoked by these initiatives are discussed in this chapter.

Teacher Supply Hosted by the Chicago Public Schools, the conference mentioned above was the second such national forum sponsored by the US College Board

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and the Asia Society, the latter an especially strong advocate of spreading Chinese language capacity in the country. But as the Society’s executive director of Chinese Language Initiatives, Shuhan C. Wang, acknowledges, the success of their drive has created challenges in meeting the growing desire for Chinese language and cultural education in the United States. In particular, she says, ‘The quantity and quality of Chinese language teachers remains the key bottleneck’ (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PRC, 2009). In a 2005 essay responding to this problem, Vivian Stewart and fellow author Wang propose that America Take Both Short- and Long-Term Approaches to Create a Supply of Qualified Chinese-Language Teachers: In the short term, to expedite the creation of a pool of qualified Chinese teachers, states should work with institutions of higher education to create high-quality, ‘fast-track,’ alternate routes to teacher certification for Chinese speakers in the United States; pilot visiting-faculty programs for teachers from China; use technology and multimedia to supplement the shortage of full-time Chinese teachers in classrooms; and explore a multistate system to certify Chinese-language teachers. In the long term, it will be necessary for higher education institutions to invest in full-length teacher preparation programs, similar to those used for other languages, and to extend professional development opportunities to Chineselanguage teachers. We need to take unconventional approaches in this area, building supply and demand simultaneously. (4) The situation regarding the interest in Chinese language and the shortage of qualified teachers set out above is not a uniquely American phenomenon, but one shared to a very large degree by several other countries in Europe and Asia. In the other English-speaking countries the situation has also spawned reports. In 2007 CILT, the National Centre for Languages in the United Kingdom, produced Mandarin Language Learning Research Study, and in 2008 Chinese Language Education in Australian Schools appeared (Orton, 2008). The UK study reports that Chinese language learning is still very small scale in the country’s schools and that ‘The main constraints to developing Mandarin teaching are perceived to be the availability of trained teachers and lack of time on the curriculum’ (2). In fact, in the sample of schools surveyed, only 57% of those which taught students to university entrance level had a teacher with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), and only 31% of all surveyed schools offering Chinese had a qualified language teacher (not necessarily qualified in teaching Chinese). A quarter of the schools were using foreign language assistants (FLAs) to teach the language.

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These are temporary recruits from China who attend a short British Council training program before going to a school for a year. The report noted that ‘the reliance on FLAs and teachers without QTS is an inhibiting factor in developing Mandarin’ (12), especially given that they need strong mentoring but only stay one year, so support efforts have to begin again each year. Teachers learning Mandarin alongside pupils in classes run by FLAs or other visiting Chinese teachers were cited among ‘innovative and imaginative’ efforts to develop Mandarin (13). Unlike the recent situation in the United States and the United Kingdom, Chinese has been taught in Australia as one of half a dozen designated school languages for just on 20 years, and as a result, most teachers of Chinese in full-time day schools, government or independent, are qualified teachers. Over 90% are ethnic Chinese, most born on the Mainland, about half of whom took up residence as the result of a special immigration waiver passed in late 1989. Most beneficiaries of the waiver who became teachers were young married staff members from a wide range of Chinese tertiary institutions and fields, who found teaching Chinese in school especially suitable for the woman in the pair, as the hours fitted well with their intention to start a family. Raised in a much more austere China than current arrivals, and also very familiar as parents and teachers with life in Australia and, especially, its school system, these people remain a majority group in the Chinese teaching corps. Due to the high preference of these and subsequent Chinese immigrants for the large eastern cities of Melbourne and Sydney, the availability of trained teachers of Chinese varies considerably across the country. While all states will claim that a lack of teachers has constrained development of the language, in the three southeastern states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, where Chinese is most developed, it is the shortage of high-quality trained teachers, not straight supply, which is the primary concern of Principals. As in the United States and United Kingdom, graduates of Australian teacher training programs who can be registered to teach Chinese will typically have taken only a generic modern language methods course, not one targeted to Chinese, hence even ‘qualified teachers of Chinese’ in Australia have only rarely ever been taught how to teach the specifics of tone or characters, for example. The 2008 report sees pedagogical weakness as a key factor in the 94% attrition rate of students who begin learning Chinese in the classroom, many of whom say they feel they are not making progress in the language. A key recommendation of the 2008 report is that there is ‘concerted, sound and innovative development in pedagogy for Chinese and in education of teachers of Chinese’ (Orton, 2008: 6).

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Challenging Standards The surge of interest in Chinese has confronted the language teaching profession around the world with two major challenges. First, the sudden privileging of one language over the many on offer in schools alarms teachers of other languages, and as many of these are European, it also threatens to divide a professional community only recently united across distance and language differences, and to do so along broadly ethnocultural lines. This unfortunate division is exacerbated by bureaucratic efforts to fast-track registration of Chinese teachers using licensure programs which take an ‘alternative route’ or use ‘unconventional approaches’, just at a time when the largely European language based field in all English-speaking countries feels it has finally achieved public recognition as a profession through the endorsement of high common standards for beginning and accomplished language teachers. Laws detailing the basic qualifications required for registration as a teacher in any area have been codified in these countries for some years and, unlike many other Western countries, from very early on they have included successful completion of a recognized teacher training program as well as tertiary studies in content areas. Beyond that, however, they vary considerably, particularly in respect to the amount of time that must be spent on the various aspects studied. As well, there have always been loopholes to allow schools to fill hard to staff positions, for example, in remote areas, or where there is a severe shortage of qualified candidates. Notably in the fields of music and languages, teachers who do not fully meet the training requirements for teachers have been commonly tolerated in no small number. After many years of struggling with educational jurisdictions for recognition of their professional status, in these same years of development in Chinese teaching, English-speaking countries have finally published standards for language teachers which are compatible with the broader teacher standards and fill out what base qualifications and experience should mean in field-specific knowledge and competencies. The articulation of standards for language teachers represents the culmination of a considerable amount of negotiation and consensus building. This has been necessary because in all cases government-provided education is a regional (state/province) prerogative and, hence, any national consensus on standards has involved dealing with a great many separate, localized authorities. The situation is further complicated by the considerable independence from government regulation of school staffing in the private and catholic education systems, and of the teacher training colleges

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and universities, although the latter’s need for approval of their courses as meeting government requirements does provide some constraint. While state Boards of Education and independent and religious school jurisdictions have been involved in the compilation of standards, and they acknowledge, advocate and often follow them, they rarely, however, accept them as binding. In addition to the complex negotiations required to get national agreement on teacher standards across a whole country and its various school boards, the national language teacher associations engaged in reaching consensus about standards for their teachers, such as the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), the British Council on Languages (CILT), and the Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations (AFMLTA), have had to facilitate considerable internal dialogue among associations of teachers of several different languages, whose professional history and current circumstances are often very dissimilar. The results of all these negotiations are remarkably similar across the three countries, as is shown in the American and Australian sets presented below (see Table 10.1 and Table 10.2). In the United Kingdom there is no one document similar to these, but similar standards for teacher training leading to Qualified Teacher Status exist, as do standards for language proficiency for those who want to teach. Table 10.1 presents a summary of national standards hammered out by the US Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) in 2003. The second set (Table 10.2), published in Australia comprises standards for accomplished language teachers. Although explicitly putting greater emphasis on culture and tolerance than the American document, the two sets are very similar in their details. Language proficiency standards specifically for teachers of Chinese have been developed by the Hanban as part of its suite of occupational language tests. These now form part of a broader set of Hanban Standards for Teachers of Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages published in 2007. The introduction to the standards says they are intended to reflect ‘a comprehensive description of knowledge, capacity and qualities that Chinese language teachers possess’ (Hanban, 2007). They are presented in Table 10.3 below along with a set specifically put together in an American governmentfunded project by the Chinese Language Association of SecondaryElementary Schools (CLASS) and The National East Asian Languages Resource Centre at the Ohio State University (Table 10.4), published by Lee (2005).

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Table 10.1 INTASC model standards for licensing beginning foreign language teachers Principle #1: Content Knowledge. Language teachers are proficient in the language they teach. They understand language as a system, how students learn a language, and how language and culture are linked. They are knowledgeable about the cultures of the people who speak the language. Using this knowledge, they create learning experiences that help students develop language proficiency and build cultural understanding. Principle #2: Learner Development. Language teachers understand how students learn and develop and can relate this to their development of language proficiency and cultural understanding. They provide learning experiences that are appropriate to and support learners’ development. Principle #3: Diversity of Learners. Language teachers understand how learners differ in their knowledge, experiences, abilities, needs, and approaches to language learning, and create instructional opportunities and environments that are appropriate for the learner and that reflect learner diversity. Principle #4: Instructional Strategies. Language teachers understand and use a variety of instructional strategies to help learners develop language proficiency, build cultural understanding, and foster critical thinking skills. Principle #5: Learning Environment. Language teachers create an interactive, engaging, and supportive learning environment that encourages student self-motivation and promotes their language learning and cultural understanding. Principle #6: Communication. Language teachers use effective verbal and non-verbal communication, and multi-media resources, to foster language development and cultural understanding. Principle #7: Planning for Instruction. Language teachers plan instruction based on their knowledge of the target language and cultures, learners, standards-based curriculum, and the learning context. Principle #8: Assessment. Language teachers understand and use a variety of assessment strategies to monitor student learning, to inform language and culture instruction, and to report student progress. Principle #9: Reflective Practice and Professional Development. Language teachers are reflective practitioners who continually evaluate the effects of their choices and actions on others and who actively seek out opportunities to grow professionally. Principle #10: Community. Language teachers foster relationships with school colleagues, families, and agencies in the larger community to support students’ learning and wellbeing.

Seen in the context of the lengthy and earnest efforts undertaken to develop standards of qualifications and professional competence which give the field status and recognize the complexity of the task of classroombased language teaching and learning, it is hardly surprising that proposals for ‘innovative and imaginative ways’ to develop Mandarin teacher supply using ‘short-term approaches’, and ‘limited licensure’ training programs for new arrivals from China, have struck something of a chill note with bodies such as the ACTFL, CILT and AFMLTA. In Australia, memories are still

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Table 10.2 AFMLTA professional standards for accomplished teaching of languages and cultures Being an accomplished teacher of languages and cultures means being a person who knows, uses and teaches language and culture in an ethical and reflective way. It involves a continuous engagement with and commitment to learning, both as a teacher and as a life-long learner. It means more than teaching knowledge of languages and cultures and includes teaching learners to value, respect and engage with languages and cultures in their own lives and to interact with others across linguistic and cultural borders. It means creating a culture of learning which approaches language, culture and learning with respect, empathy, commitment, enthusiasm and personal responsibility. Accomplished languages and cultures teaching is reflected through the following dimensions: • • • • • • • •

educational theory and practice language and culture language pedagogy ethics and responsibility professional relationships awareness of wider context advocacy personal characteristics

These standards recognize that accomplished language teaching can only occur in an appropriate and supportive teaching context and so the standards this document includes are not only standards for accomplished teaching, but also programs standards, which the profession believes are necessary for accomplished teaching to occur.

Table 10.3 Hanban standards for teachers of Chinese to speakers of other languages (a) Language knowledge and skills. This section is further divided into two parts, ‘Chinese language knowledge and skills’ and ‘foreign language knowledge and skills’, describing Chinese and foreign language and skills that a Chinese language teacher should master. (b) Culture and communication. ‘Chinese culture and the contrast between Chinese culture and foreign cultures’ and ‘cross-culture communication’ are included in this part. Teachers are demanded to have multi-culture consciousness, understand Chinese and foreign cultures and their similarities and differences as well as master the basic principles governing cross-culture communication. (c) Second Language Acquisition theories and learning strategies. Teachers are required to understand the rules governing the learning of Chinese as a foreign language and students’ characteristics, as well as be capable of helping students successfully learn Chinese. (d) Teaching methods. Four standards are involved in this part, which are respectively ‘Chinese Teaching Methods’, ‘Assessment and Appreciation’, ‘Courses, Curricula, Teaching Materials and Supplementary Teaching Materials’ and ‘Modern Teaching Technology and Application’. Teachers are required to master the teaching theories of Chinese as a second language and teaching methodology, as well as be capable of organizing and implementing teaching. (e) Comprehensive qualities. Teachers’ professional qualities, professional development capability and professional ethnics are mainly assessed in this part. ‘Standards’ uses the new achievements on international second language study such as TESOL for references and draws on the practical experience of international Chinese language teachers, reflecting the characteristics of international Chinese language teaching.

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Table 10.4 Professional standards for Chinese language teachers – United States (Lee, 2005) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

Chinese language proficiency and communication skills in English Linguistic Competency Culture Knowledge Second Language Acquisition – theories and methods Child Growth and Development Diverse Learners – use a variety of instructional strategies Learning Environment – create effective participatory environment Instructional Planning and Strategies Assessment Communication Skill Technology Knowledge Professional Development

fresh of the subsequent collapse of primary language programs in one state, and the backlash against primary Japanese in particular, following very similar moves two decades ago which saw a spate of programs staffed by teachers whose proficiency in the language was barely two pages ahead of their students, or by native speakers with little idea of how to conduct a class in an Australian school.

A Pedagogy for Chinese Most education system administrators charged with fostering the spread of Chinese have only had personal experience of learning a language such as French or Spanish. They do not know what successful teaching and learning of Chinese demands, and are quite unaware that it might be both different and more extensive than other languages to be accommodated in the language programs they administer. In fact, in addition to risking the gains made by the professional community, fast tracking Chinese teacher training lessens the chance that the considerable challenges in developing effective Chinese language teaching competence in the student teachers involved will be met, unless compensated for locally. Indeed, even those who do provide an accredited full-time course for Chinese teaching are only beginning to find ways of tackling the three principal aspects of challenge: the nature of the linguistic systems and the lack of research into it and of research into the learning of it; the richness of the cultural heritage and its differences from the Western tradition; and the relative weakness of student

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teachers of Chinese in linguistic and intercultural competence. These aspects are addressed in turn below. Linguistic challenges In addition to standards for teachers, there are frameworks and standards for learners of modern languages and cultures which apply equally well to learners of Chinese as to learners of Japanese or French or Spanish. Chinese language, however, offers four very disconcerting aspects for the English-speaking learner to master – tones, the system of particles and verb complements, the large volume of homophones, and reading and writing characters. These features make it necessary to develop a specifically Chinese pedagogy to supplement generic methods and shared approaches. Such a pedagogy has not as yet been produced, and creating it is not a straightforward task. This is due first to the fact that Chinese has not yet benefited from the extensive linguistic research to which European languages have been subjected, and its usage by an enormous population spread across a vast country is still being documented, and only gradually codified. The result is that permitted variations and optional rules seem to far outweigh obligatory rules. Chinese government-funded research and regulation of modern communications technology are both playing their part in reducing this problem, but for current learners it can still be an obstacle. A more profound difficulty is that there has been very little analysis of what learning Chinese demands of students of different ages. Thus, for example, while every textbook and course disk will display the set of tones as pitch contours on a graph, showing that they exist and how they might be described, none has anything to say about how they might be mastered by the foreign speaker beyond ‘listen and repeat’. Almost nothing is known of what works and what does not for the teaching of Chinese to Englishspeaking school children, and what little information there is comes from research on learning from largely traditional teaching methods of show and tell, teacher model-students repeat, and constant revision and repetition. What might the learning outcomes might be if and when Chinese is taught based on sound analysis of the nature of the language content, and of the learning task for the student to access and internalize it, using activities grounded in the most advanced theories of pedagogy available? Answers to that question are only just beginning to be articulated. Among some advances with respect to tones, for example, we can notice that to understand English a competent user must be able to hear the word ‘home’

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as the same when it is uttered as an incredulous ‘You’re going hò-óme?’ and a curt command ‘You are going hòme!’ To do so entails attending to the phonemes /h/ /oe/ /m/ in each and ignoring the changes of voice. But to understand Chinese, a competent user must attend first to the tonal character of the syllable (e.g. /´/ in má) and only secondly to the phonemes /m/ and /a/. Unused to tonal variation as marker of a difference in basic meaning, English learners have a great deal of difficulty noticing, for example, má as different from mà, unless it is isolated and exaggerated. In the author’s experience tonal competence can be learned by combining metalinguistic understanding of tone, acceptance of the need to attend to tone, opportunity to hear a lot of spoken Chinese in relaxed circumstances, and practice with tonal utterances grounded in gesture theory (e.g. Roth, 2001), which introduce certain physical movements which re-educate the whole body to the rhythm and melody of Chinese, including tone. Exercises in noticing by identifying just the tone of syllables, frequent guided listening opportunities which focus on tone and tonal flows in combination with intonation, breath intensity, speed and phrasing, rather than on the pronunciation of words, as well as production exercises using kinetic support, can all lead the average learner to a much greater perception of tone, and a capacity to produce tonal flows that are at least highly comprehensible to native speakers, and often close to native speech. In Chinese, aspects of actions (state of completedness) are indicated by particles, which are also used to indicate mood, turning commands into suggestions and indicating the speaker’s sense of certainty about propositions. Made of single syllables such as le and ne, like tones they are often simply not perceived by English hearers and considerable practice in noticing is needed to develop sensitivity to their inclusion or omission, and to recognizing what this is meant to convey. Similarly, entraining the Englishbased brain to cope with the number of words that sound the same or very similar in Chinese as they occur in rapid speech (words involving, for example, the syllables ji, jie, shi, xi, yi in all their tones) needs extensive practice. Rarely even mentioned in textbooks, techniques and tools for meeting the learning challenges of these aspects are yet to be developed. One considerable breakthrough in Chinese pedagogy that has recently been made comes from a reconsideration of the task of learning of characters from the perspective of the foreign learner, one who does not have the formidable oral proficiency of the six-year-old native-speaking primary school literacy beginner. The new vision has already produced some very fruitful lines of development, for example, Zhang (2001) and Scrimgeour (Chapter 13). Both these scholars have developed related analyses of

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characters as learning objects and then produced resources and processes for teaching and learning characters grounded in the fruit of their analyses.

Cultural challenges While resources for school learners of Chinese are festooned with lanterns, dragons, images of the Great Wall and other icons of tradition, addressing the question directly of what ‘teaching Chinese culture’ might mean beyond providing information on historical, social and artistic topics is not a question often posed. A coherent and integrated approach to teaching culture with language is a massive and potentially contentious undertaking involving content selection, learning processes, and educational and language proficiency outcomes. What might be entailed in developing learners’ intercultural competence in viable relationships with some people in today’s China is even harder to set out. But what can be said is that to use Chinese well, learners need to develop a functioning sensitivity to relationships as the driving Chinese cultural base, which manifests in the value of social harmony maintained by a structure of hierarchical rights. To achieve this they will need to know and understand something of Confucian teachings, and get a sense of the worldview, people and unfolding events that have contributed over China’s long history to the creation of contemporary society. This makes a very big demand on a teacher and is a dimension of teacher education often ignored. The contextualized, dynamic action of films as a resource for developing a sense of worldview while at the same time illustrating values in action would seem to offer some resolution, but their exploitation has yet to be developed.

Teacher candidates Second language learner teachers are often passionate about the language they teach, have expertise in their students’ own language, knowledge of the learning path to be taken, and competence in the interactions and duties outside the classroom which make up about 50% of a teacher’s working week. For their part, native speakers as language teachers have formidable strengths in presenting accurate language, insider social knowledge and culturally authentic behaviour. Each group also has its weaknesses and in this Chinese is exceptional in a number of ways. Unlike French or German, for instance, in which native English-speaking learners often reach

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close to native standards of proficiency, the Chinese language competence of English-speaking teachers is more usually inadequate, especially with respect to tones, particle use and characters. For this reason, the vast majority of Chinese language teachers in all English-speaking countries are native speakers, usually young, female, English major graduates educated in China. Like native speakers of all languages, these teachers of Chinese need to be educated about the facts of their language, come to understand its learning challenges and know how to help learners meet them. Initially, native Chinese are mystified by students’ difficulty hearing something so clear to their ears as the difference between má and mà. In learning to become tonal, students have to realize they must ask the question: ‘Is this xiá or xià?’ not, ‘What tone is xia?’, and the consistent pressure to do that has to come from the teacher. It takes knowledge of learning processes to provide that pressure with confidence, and it also demands a high degree of interpersonal engagement to be persistent about it. In a similar vein, teaching the finer points of grammar requires extremely good language skills to explain the concepts and forms, and then, to be effective, this must be combined with knowledge of learning plus an empathetic capacity to perceive any problems the new grammar creates for a student from the perspective of the student: to reach them and their difficulties, not stay with the perfected native speaker model of the language. This is a culturally shaped view of learning, however, and one not often shared by those from a Chinese education system. While their English in an ordinary setting would be described as superior, young Chinese teacher candidates may still have difficulty explaining in English aspects of their language, and the information available to them is often inadequate. In all the English-speaking countries, however, their greatest problems are on the cultural and interpersonal side. The CILT Report sets out the situation succinctly: Teachers from China are described as ‘lovely’ but their lack of familiarity with the English system of discipline, target setting etc. is a problem. They also tend to have different, perhaps unrealistic, expectations of pupils. Concerns are expressed about Chinese teachers’ abilities to manage pupils, particularly whole classes or where there is a tendency for students to be disruptive. (12) Postgraduate study in China of TCSL omits the dynamics of Western social life, and studies taken abroad simply take for granted the fundamental shared beliefs and values which underpin the classroom concerning the

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nature of the individual, egalitarian authority, the purpose of life and the role of education. Furthermore, notions of individual identity, rights and responsibility, or of learner-centred pedagogy, are difficult matters to put fully into words, and it is even more difficult for words alone to be able to generate their meaning. The following story illustrates this point clearly and suggests the scale of education that may be needed to assist young China-educated language teachers to begin to cope in a system so foreign to that of their own education. My neighbour walks her 8-year old son to school every morning at the same time as I am leaving. In China the mother would say to her child, ‘Now study hard and obey your teacher’. But at the school gate my neighbour kisses her son goodbye and says, ‘Have a good day’. I have never heard anyone say that to an 8-year old. I learned each of those words in my first month of English 15 years ago, but actually I don’t know what she means: what will happen if he has a good day – or if he doesn’t? I have no idea! (27-year-old Shanghai education postgraduate in class, Melbourne)

Conclusion Educating Chinese language teachers is a long-term endeavour, both in terms of providing sufficient candidates to fill the increasing demand, and developing their capacity to practice as accomplished teachers. In Englishspeaking countries most attention is currently being paid to equipping candidates with only the most basic knowledge and skills to get them started. This risks creating bad consequences inside and outside the classroom. Chinese language pedagogy is comparatively underdeveloped and as yet it is hard to find theoretically sound, innovative approaches and techniques which target the very particular and demanding learning challenges Chinese language and culture present for English-speaking students. Without the support of sound pedagogy, increasing the numbers taking up Chinese under the guidance of minimally educated teachers is likely to lead to huge attrition rates in a few years when students, discouraged by their lack of progress, decide to quit. As well, professional bodies have fought hard and long to establish sound qualifications and standards for language teachers, and to separate requirements for one group is a divisive move, and especially so at a time when many teachers of European languages already feel under threat from the spread of Chinese. Even those who do receive full initial preparation will need further support if Chinese is to

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become a successful prospect for school-aged learners. Second language speaker teachers will need continuing development of their own Chinese and native speakers, especially those educated in a Chinese society, will need very special, long-term development of their intercultural understanding and practical competence. There is need for dialogue and sharing in these endeavours within countries, and excellent opportunities also to do so across national borders to high mutual enrichment.

References AFMLTA (2005), Professional Standards for Accomplished Teaching of Languages and Cultures, viewed 5 September 2009, http://www.afmlta.asn.au/easyweb3/WEBID679729-ep_code_Resources Hanban (2007), Standards for Teachers of Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages, viewed 5 September 2009, http://www.english.hanban.org/content.php?id=3963 Lee, L. (2005), Professional Standards for Chinese Language Teachers, Chinese Language Association of Secondary-Elementary Schools (CLASS) and The National East Asian Languages Resource Centre at the Ohio State University, viewed 20 September 2009, http://www.t2web.us/Workshops/Sessions.asp?SessionID=112 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China (2009), America’s Second National Chinese Language Conference Opened in Chicago. News report, viewed 4 May 2009, http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/wjb/zwjg/zwbd/t560425.htm Orton, J. (2008), Chinese Language Education in Australian Schools. Melbourne: University of Melbourne and the Confucius Institute Melbourne. Roth, W. (2001), ‘Gestures: Their role in teaching and learning’, Review of Educational Research, 71, (3), 365–392. Stewart, V. and Wang, S. C. (2005), ‘Take both short- and long-term approaches to create a supply of qualified Chinese-language teachers’, Expanding Chinese Language Capacity in the United States. Washington, DC: Asia Society, viewed 5 September 2009, http://www.asiasociety.org/files/expndingchinese.pdf Xu, L. (2009), Opening Ceremony Address to The National Conference on Chinese Language Teaching, Chicago, 1 May 2009. Speaker handout. Zhang, P. (2001), Ji zhong shi zi [Rapid Literacy in Chinese]. Beijing: Huayu jiaoxue chubanshe [Chinese Teaching and Learning Publisher].

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Chapter 11

The Development of TCSL Teacher Training in Taiwan Yea-Fen Chen and Shih-Chang Hsin1

Introduction The global interest in studying Chinese has been growing dramatically over the past decade. The number of foreign students coming to Taiwan to study Chinese has also increased steadily. According to the MOE, the number of foreign students in Taiwan reached 4,000 for the first time in 1988. It exceeded 5,000 in 1989 due to the Tian’anmen Incident, which took place in June that year in China. The number grew slowly in the 1990s. It reached 6,000 after 2000 and increased about 10% per year except for 2003 due to the breakout of SARS. In 2008, more than 10,000 students from 117 countries studied Chinese in Taiwan. As a result of this growing foreign student enrolment in Taiwan, the demand for instructors of Chinese as Second Language (CSL) has also increased. According to Yeh (1996), the number of learning centres affiliated with universities increased from 15 in 1997 to 40 in 2009. About 640 CSL teachers taught at private and public Chinese language learning centres in 1996, 400 of whom worked for institutions of higher education. Recently the number of Chinese language learning centres increased drastically, with more than 600 teachers working for university centres and more than 200 for private centres. The number would be higher if those who do not teach on a regular basis were counted. Many public and private organizations have started to offer teacher training programs to meet this increasing demand for CSL teachers. This chapter explores the development of CSL teacher training programs in Taiwan, review the current status of CSL teachers, and discusses the impact of the Certification Examination for Proficiency in Teaching Chinese as a Second/Foreign Language on CSL teacher training in Taiwan. The certification

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examination, in particular, has had a significant impact on teacher training programs over the past three years. Based on literature review, surveys, interviews as well as the authors’ observation of and active involvement in CSL teacher training programs in Taiwan, this chapter also addresses the challenges and prospects CSL teacher training programs face in Taiwan. The development of the teaching of CSL in Taiwan has been an interplay of the following influences: political factors – different language policies enforced by the party in power and the impact of the interactions between China and Taiwan; social factors – changes in the population structure and the internationalization of universities; academic factors – the emerging of TCSL as a discipline and administrative factors – the status of CSL teachers and their benefits.

A Brief History of CSL in Taiwan CSL can be grouped into two categories: one targeted at foreign students and the other at heritage learners. The teaching of CSL started in the1950s in Taiwan, and the Mandarin Training Centre (MTC) of National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), founded in 1956, has been playing an instrumental role in CSL in Taiwan since its inception. In addition to MTC at NTNU, about 30 universities, most of which are located in the western part of Taiwan, now offer CSL courses, attracting more than 10,000 foreign students each year. According to the MOE (2008), these students came from 117 countries. Most of the students (6,247, 58%) were from Asia, followed by students from America (2,510, 23%). The following countries had the largest enrolment: Japan (1,789), USA (1,616), Indonesia (1,522), South Korea (1,184) and Vietnam (681). About one third (3,126) of these students studied at MTC, NTNU in 2008. Some Chinese language learning centres are run by private organizations, such as Taipei Language Institute, Mandarin Daily News Training Centre and World Chinese Language Association Training Centre. If these learning centres are included, then more than 40 Chinese language learning centres, either affiliated with institutions of higher learning or nonacademic organizations, currently offer CSL courses. The Overseas Expatriate Affairs Commission (OCAC) supervises the instruction of Chinese to heritage learners. The following institutes and institutions specialize in CSL classes for heritage learners: Division of Preparatory Programs for Overseas Chinese Students at the NTNU, National Chi Nan University and National Overseas Experimental Senior High School. Several times a year OCAC entrusts NTNU, Tamkang University

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and the China Youth Corps to organize a ‘Language Study Program for Expatriate Youth’.2 More than 1,000 overseas Chinese students participate in these programs each year.

Current Development of CSL Teacher Training in Taiwan Two issues are addressed in this section: the development of CSL teacher training programs and the effort to coordinate these programs.

Development of CSL teacher programs in Taiwan CSL teacher training programs have blossomed in recent years. Two types of CSL teacher training centres exist in Taiwan: the degree programs operated by universities and short-term ones offered by either private or public institutes/institutions.

Graduate and undergraduate programs of TCSL Currently eight universities in Taiwan offer graduate courses in TCSL, including two with doctoral programs.3 As for courses at the undergraduate level, there are eight universities offering BA programs, but most of them seem to be a mixture of TCSL and Chinese Language and Literature. It is often the case that the content of the courses with the same title varies greatly from one institution to another. In addition to afore-mentioned programs, many other universities offer courses on TCSL but do not award degrees. These courses are very popular and interested students have to go through a special application and registration process in order to enrol. During the 1990s, TCSL did not receive its much deserved recognition, only existing as informal training programs until the founding of the Graduate Institute of TCSL at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), which has been a leading teaching and research institute in the field of TCSL (Tsao, 1998). The curricular development of the Graduate Institute of TCSL at NTNU represents the growth of TCSL as a discipline. Founded in 1995, this institute originally offered master degrees and started doctoral programs in 2003. The institute launched its MA program for in-service teachers in 2004 and overseas MA program in Bangkok in 2006. In 2003, National Kaohsiung Normal University established its MA program of Graduate Institute of TCSL, and Chung Yuan Christian University founded

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the Department of TCSL in its undergraduate division. In 2007, NTNU established the College of International Studies and Education Committee for Overseas Chinese. In the same year, NTNU also founded the Department of Applied Chinese Languages and Literature, for speakers of Chinese who plan to become CSL teachers, and the Department of Chinese Languages and Literature for International Students. Overseas Chinese Education and Studies was added to the Graduate Institute of TCSL. Admission to graduate institutes and departments is highly competitive. For example, the Graduate Institute of TCSL at NTNU only accepts twenty out of more than three hundred applicants each year. It usually takes students three to four years to obtain their degrees: two years of intensive study and training on Second Language Acquisition, Chinese Linguistics, Language Pedagogy and research methodology, and one year’s overseas internship and thesis writing afterwards. It is a long process; however, the graduates from this institute have bright employment prospects. Due to their excellent performance during their internship at American and European universities, a considerable number of the graduates continue to work for universities in the United States after their internship. About one third of the graduates from this institute teach at universities overseas. The rest usually work for language training centres in Taiwan (Graduate Institute of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, 2009).

Short-term CSL teacher training program Currently both TCSL graduate institutes and almost all Chinese language learning centres offer short-term teacher training programs. Due to the lack of registration information, it is difficult to speculate on an accurate number of enrolments, but roughly 40 such programs are operating in Taiwan and very likely the number is still increasing. The CSL teacher training programs offered by private institutes usually follow their own curricula, which can differ widely in content, difficulty level, and hours of instruction. The number of courses ranges from 7 to 30, and class hours range from 40 to 126 (Dung, 2007). (Please see Appendix for a sample curriculum.) The trainees in short-term CSL teacher training programs come from very diverse backgrounds. Many are intrigued by the potential job market in teaching CSL, and many plan to go overseas. However, they have less promising employment opportunities than those from graduate institutes: the outstanding ones might stay with the program to teach, some apply for the graduate programs to advance their education, and some work for publishers or as private tutors.

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MOE’s efforts to coordinate and integrate CSL teacher training programs In light of the lack of coordination among TCSL programs, MOE has taken initiatives to solve these problems. In February 2009, the Department of Higher Education from MOE entrusted NTNU’s Graduate Institute of TCSL to host a conference on teacher training programs, inviting almost all the faculty members in these graduate and undergraduate programs in Taiwan to attend, from full-time TCSL professors to people in charge of in-service courses and university TCSL credit courses. The objective of the conference was to facilitate the communication and cooperation among various organizations, promote professionalism in the discipline and enhance the competitiveness of CSL programs in Taiwan. After the conference, NTNU was entrusted to compile ‘The Curriculum of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language’, to be published in December 2009. Hopefully it will serve as a reference for CSL teacher training programs in Taiwan.

The Current Status of CSL Teachers in Taiwan Although CSL instruction in Taiwan has gained public and governmental recognition due to its rapid growth, we have to admit that it has yet to overcome many challenges to develop as a discipline. In the following section, we will focus on the two major issues that affect CSL teachers throughout Taiwan: their work environment and compensation. Generally speaking, CSL teachers are satisfied with their teaching environment, but not with their compensation. Hsin et al. (2005) conducted a survey on CSL teachers’ work status and environment in 2000 and 2005. A small number of questionnaires did not identify the respondents’ affiliation, but it can confidently be concluded that the survey results provide us with a truthful picture of the current situation of CSL teachers in Taiwan due to its comprehensiveness and high response rate.4 The comparison between the 2000 survey and the 2005 reveals that all the major factors related to TCSL are improving, such as teachers’ educational backgrounds, overseas teaching experiences, teaching resources and professional development opportunities. The survey conducted by Domizio and Fang (2005) reveals that the teachers have more advanced academic degrees than before, and the average age of teachers is decreasing. As the quality of teacher training programs goes up, the overall quality of TCSL has also been steadily improving. The research discovers that both the morale and the retention rate of CSL teachers is quite high. Teachers take great pride in their teaching and have a positive attitude towards their teaching

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facilities and work environment, but they expect better administrative support and more up-to-date teaching materials. Hsin et al.’s surveys also reveal that teachers are generally dissatisfied with their job benefits. CSL teachers work on the frontline of international exchange and communication. As Yeh (1996) puts it, although CSL teachers ‘are entrusted to disseminate Chinese culture, most of them are contracted from term to term without adequate compensation, which has been a major problem in the field and has adversely affected the quality of teaching’ (Yeh, 1996: 202). This issue has not been sufficiently addressed. According to the surveys, most teachers teach more than 20 hours per week. Hsin et al.’s 2005 survey results indicate that the average teaching load in both public and private centres was 20–39 hours per week. In other words, 4–5 hours of teaching per day was quite common for CSL teachers. CSL teachers from private centres tended to teach 20–39 hours per week and those from public centres 10–29 hours per week. The surveys also show that some teachers even worked over 40 hours per week. Since they are not considered regular teaching staff in academic institutions, most of them do not have benefits such as retirement pension and sick leave. Domizio and Fang (2005) also identify the same problem in their survey. T’ung (2005) summarizes the teaching environment of NTNU’s Mandarin Training Centre (MTC), an internationally renowned Chinese language training centre, in the 1960s as follows: ‘inadequate teaching facilities and materials, but excellent employee benefits’(234–235). More than four decades later, Hsin et al.’s surveys show the opposite results. While teaching facilities have improved, CSL teachers’ benefits have dropped. The status of CSL teachers in other language learning centres is no better than that in MTC. The centres affiliated with universities usually follow the MTC model, but the scale of these programs is not comparable to that of MTC. Private language centres vary in size, and their facilities and teachers’ compensation are below those at university learning centres. Hsin et al.’s surveys also indicate that CSL teachers are dissatisfied with the lack of government involvement in TCSL. They believe that the government has not paid sufficient attention to the urgent issues CSL teachers face, especially the training and compensation of CSL teachers. The same discontent is also reflected in Domizio and Fang’s (2005) survey. According to Domizio and Fang (2005), CSL teachers hold the notion that regardless of the steadily increasing enrolment and the blossoming of Chinese language training centres, no specific government organization has been designated to supervise and/or coordinate TCSL. Both Hsin et al.’s and Domizio and Fang’s (2005) surveys suggest that government policies have not met

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teachers’ expectations. Over the past three years, many new policies have been implemented, including the Test of Proficiencies for Huayu (Chinese) and the Certification Examination for Proficiency in Teaching Chinese as a Second/ Foreign Language. The latter, in particular, will have a far-reaching impact on CSL teacher training programs. Nevertheless, the government and its relevant administrative offices still need to work on how to enhance the social and academic status of TCSL as a discipline, so that the potential of TCSL can be developed to its fullest. Since all the Chinese Language Learning Centres are considered to be continuing education, and do not belong to the regular academic system at universities, most Chinese language learning centres, regardless of their size and high requirements, can only offer non-credit courses and cannot award transferable academic credits to foreign students. This can be a stumbling block for an international student who plans to study Mandarin in Taiwan.

The Certification of TCSL In 2006 MOE implemented the certification of TCSL, which represented a major milestone for TCSL as a discipline because the certification system formally acknowledged the professional status of CSL instructors. Up to this point, no clear distinction had been drawn between CSL and teaching Chinese as a first language, so many people were unclear about what and how CSL teachers taught. Some even thought that anyone could teach Chinese to foreigners as long as they could speak the language. The certification system not only established the professional status of the discipline, but also demonstrated the high requirements for those aspiring for a career in TCSL. The following section first provides a brief review of the certification system and then discusses its three contributions to the development of CSL as a discipline in Taiwan, followed by a discussion of the three most urgent issues to be addressed in the certification system. Finally, the negative effects the certificate test has incurred in TCSL are explored.

The implementation of CSL teacher certification Although the certification exam has been in existence for only a few years, it has had a significant impact on TCSL in Taiwan. The Certification Examination for Proficiency in Teaching Chinese as a Second/Foreign Language was initiated by the MOE, and the first exam was given in November 2006. The exam tests the following 5 subjects: Chinese Language Teaching, Chinese

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Linguistics, Chinese Society and Culture, Chinese Language and Literature, and Spoken Chinese and Oral Expression. The passing score for each subject is 60, except for Oral Expression, which is 70. Among the 9,456 examinees [1,925 (2006); 1,971 (2007); 2,565 (2008); 2,995 (2009)], the number of people who passed all the subjects the first time increased from 72 (2006), to 120 (2007), to 181 (2008), and then to 260 (2009). Test-takers need to pass all five subjects within 3 years to receive the certificate. Up to now, a total of 1,528 people have received the certificate. Although Chinese language learning centres still have their own rules and regulations to follow in their recruitment, they can refer to the certificate in their recruitment of qualified teachers. Therefore, we foresee that the certificate will become a prerequisite for those seeking employment opportunities in TCSL in the near future. However, we have to point out that the certificate cannot serve as a license because it only represents one’s knowledge of TCSL. Furthermore, it does not demonstrate one’s qualification to teach, nor does it guarantee a teaching position to certificate holders.

The contributions of the certification system The first contribution of the certification system is that it solidifies the status of TCSL as an academic discipline though anyone can take the certification examination. Most agree that language instruction is generally divided into two categories: L1 instruction (teaching the target language as a first language) and L2 instruction (teaching the target language as a second/foreign language). The certification system highlights the characteristics and the curricula of TCSL, which differ significantly from those of teaching Chinese as a first language in terms of teaching/learning objectives, students’ backgrounds, curricula, methodologies and teaching environment. As far as the curricula are concerned, L1 instruction focuses on literacy developing as well as citizenship building, while L2 instruction emphasizes language skills. As for teaching environment, L1 instruction enjoys the advantage of studying the language in a native environment, while L2 instruction mostly occurs in a non-native environment in foreign countries. Students’ backgrounds also vary considerably: the former has students growing up with the language, while the latter has students from diverse ethnic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. With regard to methodologies, native speakers study the language in distinctively different ways from non-native speakers due to their cultural and language backgrounds,

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so CSL teachers have to come up with creative methods and engaging curricula that suit the specific needs of their students. For instance, the guidelines for ‘Teaching Chinese as a Second Language’ and ‘Chinese Linguistics’ reveal the major differences between TCSL and teaching Chinese as a first language. The second contribution of such a certification system to TCSL is that it clarifies the curricula of TCSL. For an extended period of time, the debate on TCSL curricula occurred mostly as a result of non-professionals’ misconceptions about the discipline. Some people exaggerated the importance of some minor components, such as the phonetic symbols or some other insignificant concepts. In other words, they allowed minor issues to overtake the major ones. Some misconceptions arose because of people’s lack of direct interaction with foreign students, so they drew conclusions from their imagination, instead of practical experiences, mistakenly turning peripheral elements of TCSL into core ones. The guidelines explicitly identify the professional knowledge and the relevant skills that instructors of TCSL need to grasp, thus providing test-takers with an overall picture of what to expect in the exam and what to work on when preparing for the exam. The third contribution is that the certification exam helps to standardize the recruitment of CSL teachers in Chinese language learning centres. As university language learning centres have blossomed, some regular elementary and secondary schools have also started to enrol foreign students, leading to a growing demand for CSL teachers for younger students (Chen, 2007). The certificate is proving to be a good criterion for these schools to standardize their recruitment. It can be used as a basic requirement for those seeking employment with language learning centres or as a reference for teachers’ pay rates. It can even be used to facilitate the incorporation of CSL teachers into the same government employment system to which primary and secondary school teachers belong.

The remaining issues surrounding the certification system While we celebrate the implementation of the certification system in TCSL, we need to be aware that at least two urgent issues deserve our immediate attention. The first one is whether the five tested subjects truly represent all the knowledge one needs to grasp as a CSL teacher. Passing the exam does not necessarily ensure classroom success because the exam only tests the basic book knowledge of TCSL. In order to achieve optimal results in teaching and learning, CSL teachers also need to have other knowledge and

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experiences, such as how to interact with foreign students, adjust to the needs of students from diverse backgrounds, and deal with varying sizes and levels of classes, to list just a few. Since CSL instructors have close contact with foreigners, what they need to know far exceeds the content of the exam. Not only should they be familiar with foreign cultures, but also they need to possess knowledge and experience in cross-cultural communication in order to successfully interact with students from diverse backgrounds. Only with adequate knowledge and skills on how to communicate with students from diverse cultural backgrounds can CSL teachers truly embrace these students with an open mind and strive for optimal results in their teaching. These knowledge and skills can only be acquired through their own teaching experiences. The second issue is whether CSL teachers should have high level fluency in foreign language. Generally speaking, CSL teachers should have functional knowledge and skills in foreign languages and should be able to explain what they teach in foreign languages to make their teaching accessible to students. With some foreign language learning experiences, CSL teachers can better understand and identify with the challenges their students encounter in their study. The test of foreign language ability will be incorporated into the 2010 certification exam in Taiwan, and eight foreign language options has been listed for test-takers: English, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Italian and Korean. Finally, we need to deal with the negative impact the certification exam has had on CSL teacher training in Taiwan. As the prospects of TCSL remain bright, the number of CSL teacher training programs continues to increase. However, many programs deviate from the real objectives of CSL teacher training, transforming these classes into ‘cram’ classes, whose ultimate goal is to help students obtain the certificate. Many people without previous background have started to develop an interest in the discipline, but some still hold entrenched misconceptions about the certificate, assuming that obtaining the certificate automatically leads to a career in TCSL. Over the past years, 1,528 people have been certified, but not many of them have become CSL teachers.

The Prospects of CSL Teacher Training in Taiwan As for the prospects of CSL teacher training in Taiwan, we think that the following four issues deserve our attention: developing curriculum based

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on the objectives of the training programs; beginning to train CSL teachers for primary and secondary schools; expanding the overseas TCFL market; and improving the certification system. First teacher training programs should develop their curriculum according to their objectives and their faculty’s expertise while following the principle guidelines from authoritative TCSL organizations. The Graduate Institute of TCSL at NTNU prepares their students for a career at institutions of higher education, while the undergraduate programs of TCSL and Applied Chinese Linguistics train their students to be primary and secondary school CSL teachers. Since the objectives of CSL teacher training programs vary, the curriculum should be adjusted accordingly. Secondly, we need to initiate the effort to train primary and secondary school CSL teachers. Most of the programs train CSL teachers for adult learners and have not given adequate attention to the training of primary and secondary school CSL teachers. Despite the growing global demand for K-12 CSL/CFL teachers, the training programs for these teachers are almost non-existent in Taiwan. Also needs to be addressed is the issue of establishing a separate discipline for heritage learners due to the increasing number of heritage learners worldwide. Thirdly, we should actively explore the overseas TCSL market because the domestic market is saturated already. CSL teachers can be categorized into two groups: those teaching in Taiwan and those teaching overseas. Due to the large number of students enrolling and graduating from CSL teacher training programs, obtaining a teaching position in a Chinese language learning centre in Taiwan can be very competitive, so overseas TCFL market should be expanded to sustain the healthy growth of CSL teacher training programs in Taiwan. To prepare CSL teachers to work overseas, especially in order to meet the worldwide demand for K-12 Chinese language teachers, we should incorporate the study of foreign languages and cultures into the curricula of CSL teacher training programs. In order to expand the overseas market, we also advocate for teacher training programs via distance learning and TCSL courses online. In addition, MOE should establish an international foundation with initial support from the government and private sectors to found organizations to promote our language and culture overseas, following the successful example of the countries that have founded similar organizations, such as the Alliance Française and Goethe-Zentrum. These organizations should be run by professionals and academics to avoid government bureaucracy. The main objectives of these organizations should be providing funding for research on TCSL and

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initial support for secondary schools in foreign countries, for instance, for new teacher training, teaching material development, and so on (Li, 2009, personal correspondence).5 The last and the most important issue we need to consider is how to improve the certification system to promote the development of TCSL in Taiwan. The current certification exam is an entry level exam because it only covers the fundamental aspects of TCSL and is limited in its difficulty level and the scope of knowledge it tests. Given the increasing number of certificate-holders, we should consider offering ‘advanced level’ and ‘professional level’ exams (Hsin, 2006). We also think that technology should be integrated into the tests and recommend computer adaptation of the tests. This will add efficiency and effectiveness to the testing procedure and make it less time-consuming in the long run (Li, 2009, personal correspondence).6 To further improve, update and expand the certification system, we need to have comprehensive guidelines. We also should ensure that the whole procedure is under strict administrative supervision and professional guidance. In addition to administrative issues, the quality of the certificate also depends on how well the exam is designed and graded. Here are the questions we need to address: Do the committee members designing and reviewing the exam understand the professionalism involved in the certification of TCSL? Have the validity and reliability rates of the exam been steadily improving over the past three years? What can we do to bring these rates to a satisfactory level in the near future? Should a teaching demo be part of the exam? The above questions deserve our constant attention. Only in so doing can we ensure the reliability and the reputation of the TCSL certificate in Taiwan.

Conclusion The authors believe that the prospects of CSL in Taiwan are very promising, and the promotion of CSL is of national importance. Due to the efforts of all the institutions of higher education to attract international students to study in Taiwan in recent years, the number of foreign students has increased on every campus, so the demand for CSL teachers will continue to grow in the near future. Although there is much for TCSL to catch up with TESOL, TCSL, like TESOL, is an established discipline. We would like to advocate that colleges and universities integrate Chinese language learning centres into their regular academic system, discontinuing the practice of treating

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these centres as branches of continuing education. By doing so, Chinese language learning centres can award academic credits to students taking CSL courses, and CSL teachers can enjoy the same benefits as other college instructors, especially given the fact that many CSL teachers have master or even doctoral degrees. With the global phenomenon of more students learning Chinese at a young age, we want to reiterate the importance of providing CSL teacher training to teachers specializing in the teaching of K-12 students.7 As for short-term teacher training programs and the certification system, we believe that MOE needs to better coordinate and supervise CSL teacher training programs to standardize TCSL curricula and constantly improve the certification system. The current certification exam only tests some basic book knowledge, so we should develop certification exams for the advanced and professional levels. We also need the initial support from MOE to establish an international foundation to promote the Chinese language and culture overseas, by providing teacher training for people who are interested in becoming K-12 teachers and helping to develop teaching materials The foundation should be independent from government bureaucracy in order to reach its excellence. With effective collaboration between MOE and institutions of higher education, we hope that the long-standing issues concerning CSL teacher training and CSL teacher status can be resolved in the near future, so that we can maintain our competitive edge in the global TCSL/TCFL market and bring more foreign students to study Chinese in Taiwan.

Notes 1

2

3

The authors would like to express their sincere appreciation to Professors Ying-che Li and Ted Tao-chung for reading and providing comments on an earlier version of the chapter. According to Chen (2009), among the 1,010 openings for expatriate youth, OCAC allocates 690 to the NTNU program, 200 to the Tamkang University, and 120 to the China Youth Corps. Universities offering degrees, programs and curriculum in TCSL: z

z

z

Doctoral programs in TSCL: National Taiwan Normal University, National Chengchi University; MA programs: National Taiwan Normal University, National Kaohsiung Normal University, National Chengchi University, Chun Yuan Christian University, Ming Chuan University, Kainan University, Taipei Municipal University of Education, National Pingtung University of Education; MA programs for in-service teachers: National Taiwan Normal University, Chinese Culture University;

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TCSL Curriculum (non-degree granting): National Taiwan Normal University, National Hsinchu University of Education, National Taichung University, National Dong Hwa University-Meilun Campus (formerly National Hualien University of Education), National Taichung University, National Tainan University, National Taipei University of Education, Taipei Municipal University of Education, National Chengchi University, National Cheng Kung University, National Central University, National Tsing Hua University, National Chiao Tung University, National Chung Hsing University, National Taitung University, Shih Hsin University, Feng Chia University and Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages. The questionnaire was originally targeted at CSL teachers in all the language learning centres in Taiwan, but it was only distributed to those from university centres and some private centres. The survey was distributed based on the number of teachers these centres provided. Both times more than 400 copies were distributed. The copies collected were 261 in 2000 and 239 in 2005. The response rate was above 60%. In both surveys, the number of university-affiliated teachers was 183 and 185. The response rate was 70% and 77.4% respectively. The responses collected were 67 in 2000 and 47 in 2005. Ying-che Li. Personal correspondence. 7 November 2009. Ying-che Li. Personal correspondence. 7 November 2009. In recent years, many delegations from foreign school districts visited Taiwan to recruit qualified Chinese language teachers. For detailed information, check the following link: http://www.edu.tw/bicer/itemize_list.aspx?site_content_sn=14849 z

4

5 6 7

I. Chinese Language Pedagogy Chinese Language Teaching Methods and Materials Pedagogy in Mandarin Pronunciation Computer Media and Chinese Language Instruction Chinese Language Testing and Assessment

30 hours 9 hours 9 hours 9 hours 3 hours

II. Chinese Linguistics and Applied Chinese Linguistics Introduction to Chinese Linguistics Chinese Pedagogical Grammar Contrastive Analysis and Language Teaching Theory and Pedagogy of Chinese Characters Language and Culture

54 hours 9 hours 12 hours 12 hours 9 hours 12 hours

Second Language Acquisition Second Language Acquisition Cognition and Language Teaching International Diffusion of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language

12 hours 6 hours 3 hours 3 hours

Total number of courses: 12; total number of class hours: 96.

Appendix Sample of curriculum: a short-term teacher training program offered by the Graduate Institute of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, NTNU.

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References Chen, C. (2007), ‘Discussion on exchange students’ learning Chinese in Taiwan.’ Master thesis, Graduate Institute of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, National Taiwan Normal University. Chen, S. (2009), ‘A study on TCSL to Chinese heritage learners in Taiwan: A case study on TCSL program for expatriate youth by the College of Continuing Education at NTNU’, paper presented at a workshop sponsored by the College of Continuing Education at NTNU on TCSL for Expatriate Youth, Taipei, Taiwan. Domizio, H. L. and Fang, S. (2005), ‘From 3C to 3E: The mission of the CSL teachers under the Global Wave’, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Operational Strategies and Pedagogy for Chinese Language Programs in the 21st Century, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan. pp. 405–412. Dung, P. (2007), ‘The past, president, and future of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language in Taiwan’, paper presented at the International Conference of Multi Cultures and Ethnic Harmony, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan. Graduate Institute of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language (2009), Unpublished catalog by the Graduate Institute of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, NTNU. Hsin, S. (2006), ‘Discussion on the CSL teaching certification system’, Journal of the Association of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, 1, 73–76. Hsin, S., Wang, R., Li, J., Lin, R., Wu, F. and Chen, Y. (2005), ‘Surveys on the teaching environment and teachers’ satisfaction of all the Chinese language learning centres in Taiwan: Changes over the past five yours’, in Proceeding of the Annual Meeting of the Association of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, Association of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, Taipei, Taiwan, pp. 68–84. Ministry of Education (MOE) (2008), 2008 Education Statistics of ROC. Taipei, Taiwan: Ministry of Education. Tsao, F. (1998), ‘On the necessity and feasibility of establishing organizations for CSL Teacher Training in Taiwan’, The World of Chinese Language, 90, 50–63. T’ung, P. (2005), ‘Remembering the source of one’s happiness: Reflecting upon my teaching experience at the Mandarin Training Centre from 1957 to 1963’, in Proceedings of the International Symposium on Operational Strategies and Pedagogy for Chinese Language Programs in the 21st Century, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, pp. 232–235. Yeh, T. (1996), ‘The current development and future of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language’, in Proceedings of the International Conference on Cross-Cultural and Educational Studies, National Taipei University of Education, Taipei, Taiwan, pp. 195–215.

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Chapter 12

Chinese Language in the United States: An Ethnolinguistic Perspective Yun Xiao

Introduction Chinese has the largest speaker population in the world, spoken by approximately one fifth of the world’s population, including 1.3 billion people living in China. It is also the third most spoken language in the United States after English and Spanish. In recent decades, China has emerged as a global leader and is now America’s second largest source of imports and the US government’s largest foreign creditor. As China emerges, so does Chinese language and Chinese-speaking community. The new turn of the twenty-first century witnessed Chinese, a long neglected ‘less-commonly’ language in the United States, being brought to the spotlight as a language critical to the nation’s security and prosperity. Learning Chinese is no longer solely the interest of Chinese immigrant families but a key issue on the American mainstream agenda. Accordingly, Chinese language has received unprecedented institutional support and become an expanding field with fast-increasing programs and enrolments at colleges/universities and K-12 schools. For the first time it has the prospect of being elevated to a ‘commonly taught’ language, a status long held by traditional European languages in the United States, such as Spanish, French and German.

Historical background Historically, there were three major waves of Chinese immigration to the United States. The first wave started from the mid-nineteenth century, followed by the second in the mid-twentieth century (1949–1979) and the

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‘The Back Door – The Silly Chinese Sneaking “What We Would Like to See . . . ” Over the Northern Frontier’

Figure 12.1 Early derogatory images of Chinese immigrants. Source: The Wasp, San Francisco, 12 October 1889.

third from 1980 to the present. The first-wave pioneers were mostly Cantonese-speaking peasants or fishermen by origin, who came in large numbers during the 1849 California Gold Rush. Records show that 40,400 arrived in 1851–1860, when the Central Pacific Railroad needed a large labour force to build the Transcontinental Railroad. By 1871, the Chinese population had risen to 63,000. Much has been written about this group and the inequality and racial discrimination they faced (see Figure 12.1). The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 legitimized discrimination, in preventing naturalization, new immigration and family reunion of any Chinese. Seeing no opportunities in the new land, the early immigrants prepared their children to return to China (Koehn and Yin, 2002). For this purpose, they started Chinese community language schools in Chinatowns as a way to maintain Chinese language and heritage considering the lack of Chinese instruction in American mainstream schools. Compared with their pioneer counterparts, the later arrivals were more educated and financially better-off. They arrived in more open environment, improved first by the enactment of new immigration policies in 1965,

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then by the normalization of US-China relations in 1979 and China’s opendoor and economic reform at the turn of 1980s. The newer arrivals included a large number of scholars and students, who spoke Mandarin Chinese and tended to present themselves in American universities or research institutions (Chang, 2003). Some became leading scientists and academics, or entrepreneurs who engaged in commercial activities and high-tech industries (Chan, 2002). By and large, the newer arrivals view America as a land of promise and, instead of sending their children back to their homeland, prepare them for the mainstream language and job skills in the host country.

Ethnolinguistic framework This chapter draws on Bourhis’ ethnolinguistic framework (1979; 2000) in viewing Chinese language as an important aspect of group membership and cultural identity. It examines his three factors (size, power, status) to measure the group’s ethnolinguistic vitality. According to Bourhis, the higher the ethnolinguistic vitality of a group, the more likely that it is able to survive and succeed collectively as a distinctive linguistic community. Specifically, these factors include population demographics (speaker numbers and distribution), institutional support (education, media, business, government services, etc.), and status (social, economic and linguistic). Despite evidence for high Chinese ethnolinguistic vitality in the United States and growth in its teaching and learning, there are clear and real signs of language shift in Chinese immigrant families.

Population Demographics Speaker numbers The current Chinese-speaking population in the United States is marked by rapid expansion and high geographic concentration. The United States Census 20071 reported a total of 3,538,407 persons of Chinese origin, forming 1.17% of the US population and indicating a 22.88% increase over the year of 2000 (2,879,636 in total). By birthplace and citizenship, the Chinese speakers can be classified into 3 subgroups: American-born natives, foreignborn naturalized citizens and foreign-born transients (i.e. students and visitors). Chinese foreign-born are basically from 2 fronts: Chinese students in the United States and the annual immigration quota granted by the

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Table 12.1 Leading places of origin of international students in the United States, 2006–2007 and 2007–2008a Rank

Place of origin

2006–07

2007–08

2007–08 % of total

% change

2 6 15

World Total China Taiwan Hong Kong

582,984 67,723 29,094 7,722

623,805 81,127 29,001 8,286

100.0 13.0 4.6 1.3

7.0 19.8 –0.3 7.3

Source : Report on International Education Exchange http://www.opendoors. iienetwork.org a Students from China studying in the United States (2008).

US government. Since 1995, the US government has set an annual quota of 60,000 for Chinese speakers, 3 times as many as for other ethnic groups (20,000 to Mainland China, 20,000 to Taiwan, and 20,000 to Hong Kong, while 20,000 each to the other ethnic groups) (Liu, 2002: 12). After the normalization of US-China relations in 1979, the United States became the leading destination for Chinese study-abroad students, especially for those from China, who have maintained the second place among foreign students in the United States for 7 consecutive years (2001–2008). In 2008, there were a total of 81,127 students from China alone, which was 13% of the total US foreign students and showed a 19.8% increase over 2007 (67,723 in total). Students from Taiwan and Hong Kong were also ranked top 6 and top 15 respectively, as shown in Table 12.1. Due to the fact that most of the Chinese students bring over their families as visitors for peidu (䰾䇏), the total number of Chinese speakers in this category is actually much larger. There is no doubt that, with the two constants, the increasing Chinese students and the exceptionally large Chinese immigration quota, the Chinese foreign-born will continue to expand and become a major force in the Chinese-speaking community. As the first-generation or 1.5-generation immigrants, these newer arrivals have either fully or partially developed Chinese as their first language and established extended families on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.

Speaker distribution In the early discriminatory environment, in which pioneer Chinese immigrants were excluded and marginalized, most clustered in ethnic enclaves,

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Chinatowns, in the West. By the 1870 census, of the 63,199 Chinese living in the United States, 78% resided in California (Chang, 2003: 93). Gradually, they expanded their territory to New York; thus, forming a long history of geographic congregation in these two states, where one finds the largest Chinatowns – both long-standing communities and new ones that have sprung out of old ones, such as Monterey Park and Cupertino in California, and Flushing and Sunset Park in New York (Xiao, in press). In 2006, California had the largest number of Chinese immigrants (496,197), followed by New York (322,545). Between 2000 and 2006, the size of the Chinese-speaking population more than doubled in five states, such as Wyoming, Nebraska, Tennessee, South Dakota and Idaho (see Figure 12.2). In terms of demographics, Chinese in the United States should be classed as having high ethnolinguistic vitality although the recent spread of the population to different areas and loss of concentration in traditional areas could be seen as a negative.

Number of speakers (by county) 0 1-99 100 - 499 500 - 999 1,000 - 4,999 5,000 - 19,999

20,000 - 49,999 50,000 - 99,999 100,000 - 499,999 500,000 - 999,999 1,000,000 - 3,500,000

Figure 12.2 Chinese speakers, population distribution Source : Modern Language Association http://www.mla.org/resources/map_main

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Institutional Support Business With its rapid economic growth, China is now not only America’s second largest source of imports but also the largest foreign holder of US Treasuries, owning $585 billion worth as of September 2008 (Harrison, 2008). Moreover, US imports from China have far exceeded its exports to China, which caused the US bilateral trade deficit to reach hundreds of billions of US dollars each year. There has been steady and increasing imbalance in the US-China trade and commerce since 1999. In this context, pressure for the teaching and learning of Chinese to non-native speakers has increased.

Media After Chinese immigrants landed in the new land, Chinese language newspapers became an important part of their lives and an indispensable tie to connect their local communities and beyond. Since the 1850s, there were more than 100 Chinese newspapers and journals circulating in the United States, most of which were written in Chinese script, either in traditional or simplified character form. Although the Chinese second-generation immigrants made a few attempts to publish their ethnic newspapers in English, such as the Chinese Digest, the Chinese Press, all had small circulations and were short lived, because such attempts were considered alienating the ethnic group and were hence not welcomed by the Chinese-speaking community (Zhao, 2002). To date the largest daily Chinese language publication is The World Journal (Ϫ⬠᮹ฅ, also known by its English subtitle Chinese Daily News. Established in 1976, this newspaper has built a transnational media network, covering news from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, North America, and elsewhere. It has branches in a number of cities, including Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Vancouver and Toronto, with a large number of newspersons and staffers in each of these branches. The New York branch, for example, employs more than 1,000 journalists and 12 translators on a regular basis. In addition, this paper is one of the few US daily newspapers distributed on a national basis and with an exceptionally large audience. Containing from 64 to 128 pages per issue, its circulation in the United States alone has reached almost 300,000.

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Besides the printed versions, electronic ethnic Chinese papers have been mushrooming in the United States in recent years. Aside from The World Journal, which has a full e-version (http://www.worldjournal.com/pages/ epaper), there are many other e-papers, such as ϛ㓈䇏㗙㔥 wanwei duzhe wang (http://www.creaders.net), ᭛ᄺජ (http://www.wenxuecity.com), ढ ໣᭛ᨬ huaxia wenzhai (http://www.CND.org), ໮㓈ᮄ䯏㔥 duowei xinwen wang (http://www.dwnews.com/gb), 㕢೑П䷇Ё᭛㔥 meiguo zhiyin zhongwen wang (http://www.voanews.com/chinese), to name just a few. All of these papers have large Chinese audiences in the United States. For example, news published inढ໣᭛ᨬhuaxia wenzhai are often used in Chinese media courses at American colleges/universities as supplemental reading materials. Moreover, Chinese has become one of the most frequently used languages on the internet. According to a report released by the China Network Information Centre2 on 13 January 2009, the number of Chinese internet users has jumped to 298 million between 2007 and 2008, which nearly equals the entire US population. On the other front, numerous Chinese television channels and programs, either directly imported from China or created in the United States, have found ways to Chinese-American homes. The leading ones are CCTV4, Phoenix’s North America Chinese Channel (PSTV), 呦味 qilin KyLin TV, ᮄ૤Ҏ xin tangren (New Chinese) and South East TV (SETV). CCTV4 is the overseas channel of China Central Television (CCTV), the largest provider of cultural, news and entertainment programming, which was created to keep the 50 million Chinese living outside China informed of news from their homeland and has gained a large daily share time in the US International Channel. Phoenix’s North America Chinese Channel, known as ‘Chinese CNN,’ provides 24/7 news and locally produced programs with in-depth reports on issues of concern to Chinese communities and the largest cohort of Chinese viewers in the United States. KyLin TV has provided 26 live broadcast channels and are watched by more than 700 million Chinese-speaking viewers worldwide. ᮄ૤Ҏ xin tangren (New Chinese) is a newly established US-based independent channel, which is widely received by Chinese-speaking households through ‘ᇣ㘇ᴉ’ xiao erduo (small-sized household satellite dish). As the Chinese ethnic group increasingly expands in number and diversifies in social life, these papers, printed or electronic, have been and will continue to be a tangible link connecting its members in the United States and elsewhere. In terms of media, it could be assumed that there is strong ethnolinguistic vitality in Chinese.

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Government services In recent years, Chinese has received unprecedented support from all levels and from both the US and Chinese governments. Concerned with its national interests and the demand for professionals with advanced nonEnglish language proficiency, the US government has launched a series of significant initiatives, such as the National Security Language Initiative (NSLI), the Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP), the Pipeline Flagship Programs, the summer STARTALK, and so on, of which Chinese is always a major recipient. For instance, NSLI has, since 2002, funded tens of millions of dollars to develop six Chinese Flagship Programs, and FLAP funded $13 million to develop 70 Chinese language programs.3 Moreover, since 2007, a large number of the US states have been granted funding to offer summer Chinese STARTALK4 program, which provides interested students and teachers with training in Chinese language/culture or pedagogy. Nationwide, the Chinese STARTALK program enrolled 944 students and 427 teachers in 2007, and 1,884 students and 787 teachers in 2008. The 2009 STARTALK witnessed more Chinese students and teachers. According to NSLI, the STARTALK program will continue and expand to cover all the grades and all the 50 US states by 2011. To help promote Chinese language and culture in the United States, the Chinese government has joined force and lent generous support in funding, intelligence and other resources. Since 2003, Hanban5 (the executive body of the Chinese Language Council International) has launched a number of initiatives in the United States, which include the Chinese Bridge for American Schools, Chinese Guest Teacher Program, Chinese Teacher Certification Scholarships, Chinese Language Learning Materials, AP Chinese Summer Institutes, Chinese Language and Culture Presentation Tours. These projects have brought not only Chinese teachers and learning materials to the United States but also American students and educators to China. These initiatives will have far-reaching impact on Chinese language development in the United States. In addition, in collaboration with American higher education institutions, Hanban has funded 55 Confucius Institutes6 in the United States, and 45 more are being planned for the near future. With a strategic focus on the US-China relations, the Confucius Institutes aim to promote, develop, and facilitate educational, cultural and trade exchanges, with priority given to Chinese language learning and teacher training. Besides the many levels of exchange activities and projects, the Confucius Institutes support American universities with ‘Hanban-paid’

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Chinese language teachers and local communities with innovative Chinese language programs and regular cultural events. They are also the executive agencies to conduct the summer Chinese STARTALK programs, which have brought thousands of American students and teachers to campus and some of them to China. While all of the above initiatives and efforts aim to expand Chinese language capacity, the Chinese AP (Advanced placement Program), launched in 2006 and 2007 respectively, has literally put Chinese on an equal footing with the traditionally ‘major’ or ‘commonly taught’ languages. After its inception in 1955, the AP portfolio only contained the few major European languages. Not until 2006 was Chinese included. Even though it is still in infancy, the Chinese AP marks a new milestone for Chinese language and the Chinese-speaking community, by aligning Chinese education with the American National Standards for Foreign Language Learning by teaching and assessing students’ culture and language proficiencies (listening, speaking, reading, writing) in three modes of communication (interpersonal, interpretative, presentational) across the five content goal areas of the National Standards (Communication, Culture, Connections, Comparisons and Communications) (Chi, 2009). Chinese education Historically, Chinese education in the United States operated in two separate fields: the community language schools and mainstream schools, without interaction or connection at any levels. Poorly funded and marginalized, the Chinese community language schools were grass-root effort, where parents contributed their personal resources and local communities their meagre donations. However, these schools have been the centrepiece of the Chinese-speaking community for over 150 years. They not only pass on Chinese language and culture to the younger generations but also knit the fabric of Chinese ethnic networks by hosting holiday celebrations, special gatherings, talent shows, and so on. No matter whether they are American-born or foreign-born, Chinese immigrant children almost all have some experience with these schools. In recent years, the Chinese language schools have experienced tremendous changes. The most important is that they are no longer isolated entities but connected to each other and to the mainstream schools, due to the leadership of two organizations: the National Council of Associations of Chinese Language Schools (NCACLS) from Taiwan and the Chinese School Association in the United States

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(CSAUS) from China. With a clear agenda of passing on Chinese language and heritage, these leadership organizations supervise and support the Chinese language schools for curricula development, and mainstream communication, advocacy and articulation. Data show that, as early as in 1997, there were 634 NCACLS-affiliated Chinese community language schools in the United States (Chao, 1997), and over 400 more have been established with the affiliation to CSAUS.7 As of 2005, the total enrolment in these Chinese schools was estimated at 160,000 (McGinnis, 2005), which was four to five times more than the Chinese enrolments in K-12 schools. Moreover, students’ learning in Chinese language schools is now able to be accredited by mainstream schools, for instance, in many parts of California (Xiao, in press). The advances in these community language schools raise mainstream awareness of Chinese language and pipelines Chinese students to colleges/universities and K-12 schools. The 2006 MLA survey showed that there were 51,582 students learning Chinese at colleges/universities, a 51% increase over 2002 (Furman et al., 2006). Approximately half of these were English speakers, and the remainder were Chinese heritage language (CHL) learners, who had an early exposure to their home language, involuntarily switched to the dominant language at school years, and made English their primary language. It is now common for them to return to the Chinese language classroom and reconnect themselves with their heritage language and culture. To meet the compelling needs of students with varied backgrounds, more and more American colleges and universities have been establishing multiple-track programs. There are dual-track (non-HL and HL) Chinese programs, triple track (non-HL, HL-Mandarin, HL-Cantonese) programs, or even quadruple track with an additional track devoted to native Chinese speakers, which was the hallmark only for Spanish language programs in the past decades. At the K-12 level, the Chinese growth has been even larger and faster. Data from the College Board demonstrated a 200% increase of Chinese programs in 2008 over 2004, with 779 being established in 2008 compared to 262 in 2004 (College Board Internal Study in April 2008). This supports the data from CAL8 (Centre of Applied Linguistics), which showed that American K-12 schools offering Chinese as a foreign language have mushroomed, from 0.3% of the national total in 1997 to 3% in 2008, a tenfold increase in a single decade. Such gigantic growth makes the famous question, asked by Asia Society in 2005 and widely perceived as ambitious, that ‘What would it take to have 5% of American high school students learning Chinese by 2015?’ Stewart and Wang (2005) sound too cautious for the

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present. Given the tenfold increase in the last decade, it is very likely that the number of American high school students learning Chinese will reach 10% or more in the next decade and likely surpass not only German language (whose elementary enrolments reduced from 5% of all language enrolments in 1997 to 2% in 2002) but also French language (whose elementary enrolments reduced from 27% of all language enrolments in 1997 to 11% in 2002).9 As shown above, the institutional support for Chinese language comes from various levels and is strong, thus rapidly expanding its capacity and elevating its status – a key indicator of ethnolinguistic vitality.

The Rising Social and Economic Status Social status Unlike their pioneer counterparts, who had little or no opportunity for education or employment in their host country, many of the contemporary Chinese immigrants earned academic degrees in American colleges/ universities and obtained professional employment in the mainstream job market. They became doctors, lawyers, CPAs, architects, financial consultants, real estate brokers as well as scientists, college professors and computer engineers (Chan, 2002: 146). Collectively or individually, these leading Chinese Americans have gained a voice on behalf of the Chinese ethnic group in public-policy making and advanced the Chinese ethnicity and solidarity in the United States. Their achievement and success have hence largely boosted not only their own social status but also that of the entire Chinese ethnic group.

Economic status Empowered by advanced education and professional occupations, many of the contemporary Chinese immigrants have moved directly into mainstream national and international markets. The US Census Bureau Survey 2007 indicated that 50.4% of the Chinese population at 25 years and over (2,346,490 in total) held bachelor’s degree or higher, as compared to 27.5% of the US total in that age group. The same survey also found that 64.4% of the Chinese population at 16 years and over (2,788,713 in total) was in labour force, out of which 51.2% were in management, professional and related occupations, as compared to 34.6% of the US total in that age group.

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Data presented above demonstrate that the Chinese ethnolinguistic vitality is on the rise in the United States and that Chinese language is expanding to become one of the major non-English languages in American education system, which well goes with the Chinese saying: ∈⍼㠍催 shui zhang chuan gao. In this case, ∈ shui is the Chinese ethnolinguistic vitality, and 㠍 chuan is the Chinese language. The development of Chinese language is a success example of Fishman’s reversing language shift model for neglected, threatened, endangered, and likewise immigrant languages, which are less prestigious and tend to be displaced by the more prestigious (Fishman, 1991; 2000).

Signs of Language Shift Although Chinese is supported and is rapidly expanding in the mainstream in the United States, such progress does not change its nature as an immigrant language. Like any other immigrant languages, it is subject to shift to the dominant language by the third generation (Fishman, 1991). The US Census Bureau Survey 2007 showed that 23.7% of the Chinese population at 5 years and over speak English only, which means that there is a complete Chinese language loss or shift among this ethnic Chinese cohort. Recent studies on Chinese heritage language (CHL) have also provided evidence to show that language shift is real and happening fast in Chinese immigrant families, individuals and communities, in the United States and elsewhere. The contributing factors have been identified as pressure for mainstream assimilation, desire for socio-economic upward mobility and deprivation of a CHL literacy environment. In a study of immigrant children’s performance in mainstream schools, Wong-Fillmore (1991) found that these children’s heritage language literacy was lost after they entered mainstream schools. Using a sociolinguistic network analysis, Li (1994) discovered that the language pattern in a Chinese community was characterized by ‘three generations, two languages, and one family’, where Chinese monolinguals became dominant English speakers within the span of three generations. By observing the use of literacy materials at Chinese immigrant homes, Xu (1999) found that resources for English were abundant, yet those for Chinese were minimal. In two separate studies, Li (2003; 2006) found that many Chinese immigrant children were struggling with reading and writing in Chinese and that their parents would immediately stop their Chinese learning once they no longer needed Chinese–English translation to facilitate their school

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work. Using surveys and interviews, Xiao (2008) discovered that Chinese immigrant homes contained inadequate Chinese reading materials and literacy activities and that most of the parents were concerned more about their children’s English proficiency and schoolwork than with their CHL literacy. In a study of 85 recent Chinese immigrants in New York City, Jia (2008) found that with a steady growth of English skills, their Chinese skills increasingly declined and that learners from higher income families constituted the most vulnerable population. In another study that examined the length of residence in the United States to the attrition of Chinese, Jia and Bayley (2008) found that as learners moved into adolescence, the demands on their time for school success (in English) increased, and their social lives increasingly took place in English outside of the home. As a result, their language use largely shifted to English. Although the account above is brief, the signs of language shift are real and significant. There is no doubt that the Chinese ethnic group is enjoying a higher educational and economic status than their ethnic counterparts in the United States. Eventually, their socially upward mobility will lead to residential upward mobility, which will in turn lead to the social network shift. It is anticipated that the role of Chinatowns as the Chinese ethnic boundaries will be watered down in the next generation, and the future Chinese-speaking community will be less geographically concentrated and gradually disperse to the wider mainstream community. Accordingly, language shift among the contemporary Chinese ethnic group will continue and proceed even faster in the next decade(s). Therefore, although Chinese speakers in the United States seem to have all the markers of high ethnolinguistic vitality there is still a marked shift to English. It is ironic that while specific domains for Chinese are strengthening, such as the media and school domains, there is evidence of significant generational shift to English in the home. The future situation is unsure; it is not known to what extent the new immigrants and the developing ties with China and growing status of Chinese will impact on the maintenance and development of Chinese in the diasporic communities.

Notes 1

US Census Bureau: S0201. Survey: American Community Survey. Selected Population Profile in the United States; Population Group: Chinese alone or in any combination; Data Set: 2007 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/IPTable

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Chinese internet users rise to 298 million. 14 January 2009. http://www.neowin. net/news/main/09/01/14/chinese-internet-users-rises-to-298-million-2 Asia Society Report (2008). Chinese in 2008: An expanding field. Chinese field report, press leadership copy. http://www.cal.org/heritage/newsletter/ Field-Report.pdf Chinese STARTALK program in Website of National foreign Language Centre at Maryland University. http://www.nflc.org/projects/current_projects/startalk/ Hanban Chinese Language and Culture Initiative. http://english.hanban.org/ content.php?id=1544 Confucius Institutes in the United States http://www.hanban.org/kzxy_list. php?state1=NorthAmerica ܼ㕢Ё᭛ᄺ᷵णӮၦԧ䗮䆃ྨਬӮ The Chinese School Association in the United States. www.csaus.org. CAL (Centre of Applied Linguistics): National K-12 foreign language survey. (2008), http://www.cal.org/projects/flsurvey.html 2009 National Chinese Language Conference. http://professionals.collegeboard. com/k-12/awards/chinese/nclc

References Bourhis, R. Y. (1979), ‘Language and ethnic interaction: A social psychological approach’, in H. Giles and B. Saint-Jacques (eds), Language and Ethnic Relations. Oxford: Pergamon Press. Bourhis, R. Y. (2000), ‘Reversing language shift in Guebec’, in J. A. Fisherman (ed.), Can Threatened Languages Be Saved? Reversing Language Shift Revisited: A 21st Century Perspective. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, pp. 101–141. Chan, W. K. K. (2002), ‘Chinese American business networks and trans-Pacific economic relations since the 1970s’, in P. H. Koehn and X. H. Yin (eds), The Expanding Roles of Chinese Americans in U.S.-China Relations: Transnational Networks and Trans-Pacific Interactions. Armonk, NY: East Gate Book, pp. 145–161. Chang, I. (2003), The Chinese in America: A Narrative History. New York: Viking Penguin. Chao, T. H. (1997), ‘Chinese heritage community language schools in the United States’, ERIC Digest. ED409744, http://www.eric.ed.gov Chi, T. R. (2009), ‘AP Chinese language and culture: Pedagogical implications and applications’, in M. Everson and Y. Xiao (eds), Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language. Boston: Cheng & Tsui Publishing Company, pp. 61–94. Fishman, J. A. (1991), Reversing Language Shift: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Assistance to Threatened Languages. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Fishman, J. A. (2000), ‘A decade in the life a two-in-one language: Yiddish in New York City (secular and ultra-orthodox)’, in J. A. Fishman (ed.), Can Threatened Languages Be Saved? Reversing Language Shift Revisited: A 21st Century Perspective. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, pp. 74–100. Furman, N., Goldberg, D. and Lusin, N. (2006), Enrolments in Languages Other Than English in United States. Institutions of Higher Education, Fall 2006.

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Harrison, E. (2008), ‘China is now America’s largest creditor’, Asia EconoMonitor 22 November. http://www.rgemonitor.com/asia-monitor/254492/china_is_now_ americas_largest_creditor Jia, G. (2008), ‘Heritage language maintenance and attrition among first generation Chinese immigrants in New York City’, in A. W. He and Y. Xiao (eds), Fostering Rooted World Citizenry: Studies in Chinese as a heritage Language. Hawaii: NFLRC, University of Hawaii Press, pp. 189–204. Jia, L. and Bayley, R. (2008), ‘The (re)acquisition of perfective aspect marking by Chinese heritage language learners’, in A. W. He and Y. Xiao (eds), Fostering Rooted World Citizenry: Studies in Chinese as a heritage Language. Hawaii: NFLRC, University of Hawaii Press, pp. 205–224. Koehn, P. H. and Yin, X. H. (2002), ‘Chinese American transnationalism and U.S.China Relations: Presence and promise for the Trans-Pacific century’, in Peter H. Koehn and Xiao Huang Yin (eds), The Expanding Roles of Chinese Americans in U.S.-China Relations: Transnational Networks and Trans-Pacific Interactions. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., pp. xi–xxxx. Li, G. (2003), ‘Literacy, culture, and politics of schooling: Counternarratives of a Chinese Canadian family’, Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 34, (2), 182–204. Li, G. (2006), ‘Culturally contested pedagogy: Battles of literacy and schooling between mainstream teachers and Asian immigrant parents’, SUNY series, Power, Social Identity, and Education. New York: State University of New York Press. Li, W. (1994), Three Generations Two Languages One Family: Language Choice and Language Shift in a Chinese Community in Britain. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Liu, H. (2002), ‘Historical connections between the Chinese trans-Pacific family and U.S.-China relations’, in P. H. Koehn and X. H. Yin (eds), The Expanding Roles of Chinese Americans in U.S.-China Relations: Transnational Networks and TransPacific Interactions. Armonk, NY: East Gate Book, pp. 3–19. McGinnis, S. (2005), Statistics on Chinese Language Enrolment. http://clta-us.org/ flyers/enrolment_stats.htm Stewart, V. and Wang, S. (2005), Expanding Chinese Language Capacity in the United States. Asia Society report. Wong-Fillmore, L. (1991), ‘When learning a second language means losing the first’, Early Childhood Research quarterly, 6, 323–346. Xiao, Y. (2008), ‘Home literacy environment in Chinese as a heritage language’, in A. W. He and Y. Xiao (eds), Fostering Rooted World Citizenry: Studies in Chinese as a Heritage Language. Hawaii: NFLRC, University of Hawaii Press, pp.151–166. Xiao, Y. (in press), ‘Chinese in the United States’, in K. Potowski (ed.), Language Diversity in the USA. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Xu, H. (1999), ‘Young Chinese ESL children’s home literacy experiences’, Reading Horizons, 40, (1), 47–64. Zhao, X. (2002), ‘Chinese Americans’ view on U.S.-China relations: An analysis based on Chinese-community newspapers published in the United States’, in P. H. Koehn and X. H. Yin (eds), The Expanding Roles of Chinese Americans in U.S.China Relations: Transnational Networks and Trans-Pacific Interactions. Armonk, NY: East Gate Book, pp. 125–144.

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Chapter 13

Issues and Approaches to Literacy Development in Chinese Second Language Classrooms Andrew Scrimgeour

Introduction Learning a second language, and becoming a successful user of a second language is undoubtedly dependent on opportunity for social interaction with proficient users of the language, and interaction with texts in the language. For most second languages taught in schools in the English-speaking world the relationship between the spoken and printed word is close, as English, most learners’ dominant language, and the second or target language share the same orthography or writing system. The familiar (Latin) alphabet is common to European languages taught in schools (German, Italian, French, Spanish), and to other languages such as Indonesian that have adopted the alphabet as the form of printed representation of speech. As a consequence there is no particular issue for learners of these languages in dealing with the printed word, beyond developing awareness of, and the ability to frame new sounds or pronounce familiar letters in unfamiliar ways as required by individual languages. The Chinese language is however perceived to be one of the most difficult second languages to learn by users of alphabetic writing systems, due largely to the complexity of its writing system, and its orthographic distance from English, making access to the printed word, and the task of vocabulary building through reading much more difficult.

Metalinguistic Awareness and Reading Skills Developing reading skills in a language, be it ones first or an additional language depends on some basic universals, described as general mapping

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principles, instantiated in a particular language as writing system specific mapping details (Koda, 2007: 12). General mapping principles include universals such as that print relates to speech, that graphic symbols in a writing system relate to the sounds of a language, and that speech can be segmented (is made up of sound and meaning units). The mapping details relate to the language specific details in terms of how the spoken language is mapped onto the writing system in question. Learner deductions as to the particular principles of how the language is mapped onto the writing system are facilitated by metalinguistic awareness; the conscious awareness of, and ability to analyse and manipulate language forms. Metalinguistic awareness evolves as a result of the specific properties of the language and its writing system, based on substantial input and experience with the language in print (Koda, 2007: 12–13). A fundamental goal of reading is the capability to construct textual meaning based on visually encoded information, converting print into language and accessing the message intended or understood by the reader. Reading is understood to be a complex construct involving a number of subskills, each requiring distinct linguistic knowledge, and contributing to metalinguistic awareness in particular, language specific ways. Of interest here are skills described as lower-level processing skills, related to character or word recognition or decoding, rather than the higher level processes used to build text comprehension in different languages. Word recognition is essential for effective reading as it is the singular recurring cognitive activity in reading in any language, involving primarily the conversion of orthographic, phonological and morphological information into mental resources that build comprehension. Learner efficiency in word recognition is recognized as an important predictor of later reading ability and is thus crucial in both first and second language contexts (Grabe, 2009). Thus the primary or lower order skills necessary for word recognition involve the interaction of orthographic, phonological and morphological knowledge developed through extensive input and exposure to the language in print. Orthographic knowledge is described as knowledge of sound– symbol relationships, and orthographic processing is naturally a key component or subskill in word recognition, as it provides the basis for extracting phonological and morphological information from print, and is particularly vital in phonologically deep orthographies where sound and symbol do not form regular, reliable relationships (Koda, 2007: 4). Orthographic processing can occur at multiple levels, from letters and letter parts, to letter groups and whole words in English, to sublexical components and radical arrangements in characters, and character combinations which

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form words in Chinese, depending on the frequency and complexity of words encountered, and nature of the writing system involved. Phonological awareness represents an understanding of speech sounds and how these are mapped onto the writing system which plays a major role in word processing, and is crucial to efficient reading in any language. Morphological knowledge, knowledge of the smallest units of meaning in the language plays an important role in the extraction and integration of print information, and assists word learning and lexical inferencing, and is also a reliable predictor of future reading achievement (Koda, 2007: 14). Metalinguistic awareness in learning to read in ones’ first language reflects the specific ways in which language elements are graphically represented in the writing system, and makes an irrefutable contribution to reading in that language (Koda, 2005). At the level of word recognition, metalinguistic awareness enables learners to segment words into parts, to access and identify phonological and morphological constituents through manipulation of knowledge of that orthography. The ability to transfer these skills to another language, particularly one which uses a different orthography is constrained by a number of factors, as orthographies can impose additional challenges in terms of visual processing, in how phonology is represented and how morphology is coded in that system. While first language metalinguistic skills may transfer readily to learning to read an additional language with a related orthography, metalinguistic abilities in English word recognition are not readily transferrable to learning to read in Chinese. Transfer effects, in terms of understanding and responding to variations in how phonological and morphological information are represented in print suggest that second language learners may encounter difficulties in processing words in Chinese, and have significant impact on speed and accuracy in character or word recognition, vocabulary learning and ultimately overall text comprehension (Grabe, 2009: 121). Koda (2007) argues that well-developed metalinguistic abilities, including internalized mapping patterns transfer from the first language when learning a second language, and second language reading subskills emerge through cross-linguistic interaction between first language competencies and second language print input, with emerging subskills gradually adjusted by the salient properties of the second language (18). However, word recognition abilities don’t necessarily transfer to the second language, particularly when the writing system is different, as language specific mapping details ultimately determine what can transfer, and in what ways. First language processes will still be present at some level in second language reading, as reading involves this dual language involvement, but such transfer

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effects can be addressed by developing second language processing efficiency, which depends on sufficient print input and processing experience, to develop sufficient linguistic knowledge, including vocabulary knowledge in order for specific mapping details to become apparent. The quantity and quality of input processed will thus largely determine what emerges, and consequently in order for processing efficiency, and metalinguistic awareness to develop, the properties of the written language need to be analysed and understood. Learners need to become aware of multiple levels of language specific knowledge, and how to use them in building fundamental reading skills, and thus there is a need to focus on the complexities of the second language orthography and how phonology and morphology are mapped within it. These patterns need to be recognized in order to develop accurate and effective orthographic processing skills specific to the language, and overcome the first language transfer effect. Thus one particular goal of reading instruction needs to be awareness-raising of particular mapping patterns in order for learners to become more efficient in lower-level processing related to vocabulary learning, and consequently improve and accelerate reading comprehension and general proficiency in the language. Nagy (2007) argues in his metalinguistic hypothesis that abilities shared by word learning and reading comprehension are primarily metalinguistic in nature and such abilities are demonstrably teachable (52). In relation to learning to read in a second language, Nagy argues that more attention needs to be given to the particular linguistic demands of second language vocabulary learning, by making vocabulary learning more explicitly metalinguistic, and promoting the development of learner’s metalinguistic abilities in processing print in the language. Nagy argues that vocabulary instruction needs to teach about words: how they are put together, how they can be learned, and how they are used. If students are to take greater responsibility for their own vocabulary learning, they need to be able to reflect on word meanings, on sources of information about word meanings, and on processes for vocabulary learning (71).

Metalinguistic Awareness Skills in Chinese The issues for Chinese second language learners in developing metalinguistic awareness and word recognition capabilities are indeed complex. While awareness of general mapping principles developed through input and exposure to their first language do apply, the mapping details are

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particularly challenging in terms of the complexity of the orthographic units of the language and the ways they represent sounds and meanings in particular ways. There are many descriptions in the literature on learning to read in Chinese first and second language contexts on the actual nature of the morpho-syllabic Chinese writing system, its lack of transparency in orthography–phonology correspondence, and the limited access to morphological information within characters (see Toyoda and Scrimgeour, 2009) for a detailed description. Awareness of the limited transparency and functional reliability of radicals in conveying semantic and phonetic information to a compound character generally develops through extensive input and exposure. Research indicates that the constituent elements of characters, the components which are organized into functional radicals are fundamental to character and word recognition, by native speakers and second language learners alike. Accessing the phonological and morphological information necessary for accurate character and word recognition depends on knowledge of these Chinese-specific mapping details and is therefore the essence of metalinguistic awareness in learning to read in Chinese. This knowledge and awareness however remain ongoing and linguistically demanding tasks for second language learners. In a summary of research into word recognition among Chinese first language readers, Shen and Ke (2007) report that such submorphemic (component and radical) information is activated in word recognition, that character segmentation into components and radicals occurs, with semantic and phonetic radicals being important processing units, influenced by frequency of occurrence, location within the character, transparency of information and overall character density (number of components). Consequently, for a skilled reader of Chinese, knowledge of components and radicals and awareness of their orthographic functions (including location, frequency and reliability) plays an important metalinguistic role in the process of Chinese word and character recognition. Shen and Ke (2007), and Everson (2005) argue that Chinese second language learners with insufficient orthographic knowledge tend to memorize each new character as a whole rather than understanding its structure and constituent components (as functional radicals). They argue the importance of learning to visually distinguish components in a character, as once components are identified and internalized, the need for processing and memorization of characters encountered only as an assemblage of strokes could be reduced. Their study investigated the development of radical awareness: the functional awareness of the role of radicals in forming characters and the ability to use that knowledge consciously in learning characters, thus

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representing a critical mapping detail and metalinguistic skill in learning and processing written Chinese. They investigated three components of radical awareness: radical perception – that characters are formed of radicals and the ability to decompose and reproduce them visually; radical knowledge – knowledge of the form and meaning of semantic radicals; and radical application – awareness of the orthographic structure of compounds especially the role of semantic and phonetic radicals and the ability to apply this knowledge. They found that with learners in three-year college programs radical perception develops early but is not a good predictor of radical knowledge, but that good radical knowledge is necessary for radical awareness and application (Shen and Ke, 2007: 105–106). They conclude that in order to learn characters effectively it is crucial that radical knowledge is introduced systematically starting from the earliest stages of learning though further studies are needed to examine the role of instruction and its impact on developmental patterns of radical awareness (107). Research into Chinese second language reading acquisition therefore suggests that learners initially acquire characters holistically (as logographic wholes), with little or no access to intra-character information to assist in identifying sound and meaning. Once sufficient characters are encountered, the function of particular components or radicals may become apparent and sensitivity to the internal structural and functional properties may develop. Consequently there is potential for learners to apply this sensitivity in learning new characters and retrieving stored character information as orthographic experience and metalinguistic awareness develops. There is little evidence of research among younger, school age second language learners of Chinese, in terms of the skills they develop in learning to read, and the rate and nature of the metalinguistic awareness that develops, or the extent to which this is applied to their learning. However given their limited time on task, lack of oral command of the target language, and limited orthographic experience, it is assumed they are less sensitive to the functional significance of orthographic features, and remain dependent on viewing characters as an assemblage of strokes, rather than a combination of functional units that can assist character recognition and recall. This raises the question as to whether some form of resource and sustained instructional practice with school-aged learners might hasten the development of both linguistic knowledge, particularly in identifying relevant visual orthographic information and consequent metalinguistic awareness that more experienced adult second language learners tend to display, and

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enhance learner’s ability to apply that awareness to reading and vocabulary acquisition. There have been improvements in resources and teaching–learning practices in addressing this particular concern for tertiary learners from alphabetic backgrounds (see, for example, Bellassen and Zhang, 1997; Zhang, 2004; Zhuo, 2005), but to date the resources for and processes of character learning in school-based contexts remain problematic. The representation of character learning in textbooks in use in schools continues to present character learning as little more than the memorization of a set number of characters and words per unit, and fails to adequately represent a conceptualization of the character writing system in a way that may be beneficial in assisting learners to understand the structures and features of the character system: the linguistic knowledge that is fundamental to the development of metalinguistic awareness. Current resources used for teaching Chinese as second language learning in Australian schools (Fredlein, 2007; Ma and Li, 2006) do provide some general introduction to basic features of the system. However once past the introductory module on characters, these textbooks tend to overlook the development of metalinguistic awareness by providing little consistent information about, or processes for analysing characters, for understanding component forms and exploring radical functions and the ways sound and meaning are stored in characters encountered. The perception of characters as an assemblage of strokes rather than a combination of functional units is perpetuated and the requirement to learn characters by repetitive practice continues to be applied through to senior secondary levels, where learners print processing and general language learning experience should be sufficient to allow for more conceptual, functional analyses of character form, sound and meaning. The reliance on rote memorization of characters and limiting exposure to texts primarily designed for oral language development also restricts learners’ capability for extended reading and consequent vocabulary development. In a recent textbook for school-aged learners (Cai, 2008) reading and writing development has been separated from oral language and vocabulary learning, but character learning processes still remain somewhat holistic with little deeper analysis of orthographic features. In summary, in the absence of resources which provide sufficient exposure to the structures and features of the written language and to texts which require application of metalinguistic skills to extend their learning, young school-aged learners remain largely reliant on committing whole of

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character form, sound and meaning to memory without significant metalinguistic awareness-raising or enhanced vocabulary acquisition opportunity. Thus learner awareness of processes for efficient character memorization and recall and vocabulary acquisition remain undeveloped. New resources and methods are needed to address both the visual information processing (recognition of component forms and structural properties of characters) and functional awareness aspects (the mapping details related to sound and meaning in characters) of learning to read in Chinese.

Critical Factors for Effective Teaching and Learning of Chinese, Japanese and Korean Writing Systems Consequently as part of the National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools (NALSAS) Strategy (1994–2004) to improve participation and achievement in language learning in four targeted Asian languages – Japanese, Modern Standard Chinese, Indonesian and Korean – the Australian Department of Education (DETYA) commissioned a report Identifying Critical Factors for Effective Teaching and Learning of Chinese, Japanese and Korean Writing Systems (DETYA, 2001). In this report, an analysis of teachers’ needs in relation to improved teaching and learning of characters in schools recommended the provision of teaching and learning resources that provide a more comprehensive representation of the nature of the writing system, of the internal structural and functional properties of the character system in general, and how to apply this information to their teaching of specific characters required for communicative purposes. As a consequence of this report, state-based curriculum frameworks also began to include specific references to lower-level processing skills in the scope of learning statements for learners of Chinese in schools (Department of Education and Children’s Services, 2001; Board of Studies NSW, 2003). The recommendations outlined in the Identifying Critical Factors Report (DETYA, 2001) argued for the need to provide learners the opportunity to develop a deeper conceptual understanding of the nature of the character system and enable them to take more responsibility for character learning. In particular learners needed more opportunity to explore the unique orthographic forms of Chinese writing: the components which make up the system, the manner in which they are organized, and the semantic or phonetic functions that radicals are likely to perform in certain structural positions, however unreliable in certain instances. In order to enhance developing skills in understanding of the form and function of the character system, learners also needed more opportunities to explore, organize,

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classify, compare and make judgements about form, frequency, function and reliability in interactive and meaningful ways across a range of character examples in order to develop awareness of the frequency and reliability of those functions in specific characters and across the character system in general. On the basis of the recommendations in the Identifying Critical Factors Report (DETYA, 2001) online resources to support the teaching and learning of Chinese characters (and Japanese Kanji) in schools were developed by The Le@rning Federation (Schools Online Curriculum Content Initiative for the Curriculum Corporation owned by the Australian Ministers for Education). These resources were designed to improve the quality of teaching and learning of character-based writing systems by allowing learners to explore the character system more broadly in highly interactive ways in order to enhance their overall conceptual understanding and awareness of the processes of learning characters and learning to read in Chinese. These learning objects provide exposure to features of the orthography, in particular to the components which make up the system, to the manner in which they are constructed and organized, to the semantic or phonetic functions these components perform as radicals in certain structural positions, and to the frequency and reliability of those functions across the character system. They provide opportunities to explore, organize, classify, compare and make judgements about form, frequency, function and reliability in interactive and meaningful ways across a range of character examples. They offer opportunities to explore concepts interactively in ways printbased resources for school-based learners are unable to do, and offer exposure to character examples beyond the textbook-prescribed character lists. The interactivity of these materials aims to engage learners in metalinguistic awareness training across a range of examples to enhance their ability to process the specific characters they encounter in reading with greater efficiency and accuracy. Each learning object focuses on a particular concept related to understanding the nature and functional properties of the character system, and provides an engaging game-like environment in which a particular key concept identified as part of this required metalinguistic awareness for efficient character learning is explored. At the lower levels the learning objects aim to enhance learners capabilities in dealing with the visual information contained in characters. These relate to the following: the range and relationships between strokes in characters, providing activities involving identifying sorting, classifying them using strokes to construct simple character forms (components);

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the range of component forms, drawing attention to the relationship between their forms and meanings, and how to discriminate between forms of similar appearance; the structure and arrangement of these components in sets of compound characters in which they occur as functional radicals. The remaining, and more demanding learning objects relate to the presence and potential function of common components as radicals, allowing them to make judgements as to the location of the radical and reliability of that function within a group of characters containing a common radical. In this case opportunities are provided to organize and classify characters to draw attention to the challenges of dealing with function and reliability, the two most demanding and uncertain aspects of the character-based writing system. Overall the learning objects are designed to make the ongoing task of character learning less daunting and demanding, by improving their knowledge of the principles or mapping details specific to Chinese characters and enhancing learners’ knowledge of component forms and awareness of the function and diverse reliability of semantic and phonetic information. The learning objects also aim to enhance their ability to learn characters by association and importantly their ability to make efficient use of the associated online Cracking the Code Character Catalogue (Curriculum Corporation, 2007) as they encounter more characters in classroom learning and extended reading contexts. The Cracking the Code Character Catalogue and associated Teacher Resource developed by The Le@rning Federation (Curriculum Corporation, 2007) encourages learners to explore the character system well beyond the likely exposure in current textbooks and programs, by providing access to the structural and functional information on any character they encounter at any time in their learning. The Character Catalogue provides all relevant information on the form, structure and internal functions of most characters learners are likely to encounter, so learners begin to learn characters by association rather than in isolation. The character content of the Character Catalogue is not tied to any sequence of character introduction in communicative or classroom contexts. The format of display focuses on the range of concepts covered in the learning objects, considered relevant to improving knowledge of the system and enhancing metalinguistic awareness and learning skills beneficial in the longer term. The Character

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Catalogue provides an interactive display of the internal composition and interrelationships between nearly 2,500 Chinese characters, by organizing and naming the over 400 components that are identified within characters included in the catalogue. All relevant information about each character, any radicals and subcomponent form, sound and meaning is provided on an interactive ‘page’ of the online display. Information is displayed at three levels. At Level 1 (Component Index), a core set of approximately 200 component parts are organized into groups primarily according to their basic (pictographic) meaning, under which an additional 200 components are classified based on their similarity in form (e.g. ᴀ ᳾ ⾒ ᳿ etc. are classified under ᳼). Each component is provided with a sound in pinyin, and meaning in English. These lists provide the opportunity to explore the range of forms, and relationships, both graphic and semantic, that exist between characters in each list, enhancing learner’s capabilities in recognizing the visual characteristics of the orthography. At Level 2 (Inter-character Analysis), each page displays a list of characters containing a common component organized according to the structural location of the component, therefore highlighting the potential function of the component in that position in the set of compound characters provided (see Figure 13.1). These lists provide the opportunity to

Figure 13.1 Example inter-character display Source : http://charactercatalogue.thelearningfederation.edu.au/cc/index.php

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Figure 13.2 Example intra-character display (detail) Source: http://charactercatalogue.thelearningfederation.edu.au/cc/index.php

explore, and make judgements about the frequency, location, function and the reliability of the function of that component (as a subcomponent or radical) across the system. At Level 3 (Intra-character Analysis) an individual character is deconstructed in hierarchical sequence to display the form, sound and meaning of its internal components in order that apparent functions, or any useful information that might assist in remembering the specific form, sound and meaning of the character can be accessed (see Figure 13.2). Each character or component at each level is hyperlinked to related pages at other levels of the catalogue, so that any particular intra-character or inter-character data can be accessed as required. The Learning Objects and Character Catalogue provide a unique and highly interactive online resource that has the potential to enhance Chinese second language learner outcomes in character learning, and their metalinguistic abilities in reading and writing in Chinese. The implementation of these resources in classrooms is still at an early stage, and there is much opportunity for further longitudinal research into how teachers apply these resources, and how they integrate them with the content and implicit practices of current textbooks which rely on limited exposure to characters and routine character practice to memorize forms, without analysis of orthographic features and their relationship to sound and meaning. Such interactive, online resources thus challenge teachers to rethink the relationship between developing primarily oral communication skills and learning to read and write in a different orthography. Teachers may therefore need to re-evaluate the amount of time they commit to these distinctive tasks. In particular an approach to developing oral communication skills in which

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character knowledge plays only an incidental role may be necessary, and paying particular attention to developing orthographic, metalinguistic awareness in isolation may impact positively on longer term disposition to and achievement in becoming proficient learners and users of Chinese not just in learning characters to read and write , but also in their vocabulary acquisition and overall communicative competence in the spoken language.

Conclusion The research indicates clearly that the development of basic metalinguistic awareness in learning to read in Chinese requires sustained attention to the structures and features of the character system, but the system is complex in its rules and unreliable in their application. The Learning Objects and Character Catalogue are an attempt to conceptualize and represent the key features of the character system in a way that young (primary and early secondary) learners of CSL may appreciate and respond to positively as they try to make sense of the task of learning characters and reading in Chinese. Learning objects can offer only incidental access to wide-ranging but limited sets of examples of component forms, and examples of semantic and phonetic functions within character sets included, but their primary objective is to develop the visual information processing skills and metalinguistic awareness upon which their future success in vocabulary acquisition may depend. Caution must be taken by teachers and students in engaging with these learning activities, recognizing that the content offers examples of concepts and experience with processes for exploring locations, functions and reliabilities. Traditionally learners are only exposed to characters that are expected to be memorized, so the content of the learning objects and catalogue are therefore innovative in extending into larger character sets and focusing on conceptual understanding and metalinguistic awareness development. This however may not sit well with teacher practices, and may be viewed as too complex, too challenging or inconsistent with the more limited needs to a textbook or course in which character learning expectations are limited due to the anticipated limitations of rote learning. Similarly, the central role of the teacher in engaging learners effectively with the content and purposes of the learning objects and character catalogue cannot be underestimated. Nagy (2007) reinforces the important role of classroom discussion as a powerful tool for promoting the development of metalinguistic awareness, in promoting talk about the nature of

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words (or characters in this case) and encouraging learners to think in more powerful ways about language. The degree of teacher metalinguistic sophistication, in relation being able to talk about and engage learners in meaningful discussion about the concepts and processes implicit in using the learning objects and character catalogue effectively in class is an important factor. Resources such as these are unique to second language learning of Chinese – they are designed to assist young second language learners to make the leap from their knowledge of and ability to process text in their own first language to a distant and different orthography with a new set of metalinguistic challenges. For native speaker teachers, their own learning experience, as young children, relied on a different set of assumptions and activities as they mapped their well developed oral language capability onto a writing system in which they were immersed daily. These experiences do not translate readily into the second language classroom. Similarly the adult second language learner-teacher may not have the depth of linguistic knowledge to engage learners deeply in discussion about the nature of the character system, particularly if their own experiences were based on limited analysis and extended rote learning. Teacher intervention in promoting the dialogic enquiry that will foster learner appreciation of the content and purposes of these resources is essential. Grabe (2009) reminds us that for such resources to be effective in facilitating second language reading development, they must not only be well designed, but also well used and incorporated effectively into the learning program. The role of the teacher in the effective use of these resources in terms of how they interact with learners as their engagement and understanding develops will play a central role in their success. There is considerable scope for future research in terms of how teachers incorporate these resources into their Chinese teaching program, in particular how these resources and explicit reading instruction implicit in their use are applied with textbooks that still limit character learning and use. Finally, there are implications for research into how this awareness develops, and what impact both resources and extended reading opportunities has on learners of different age groups, and after different periods of learning. While the learning objects and character catalogue represent interesting and well researched resources specifically designed to improve the process of learning to read in Chinese, the implications in terms of their incorporation into the resource base in schools, in terms of the critical role of teacher intervention in their effective use, and in terms of the outcomes for learners in Chinese language learning and use are rich areas for future research.

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This chapter has explored many of the issues learners face in learning to learn orthography vastly different from their first language experience, and the important role metalinguistic training may have on their progress. It has explored the particular characteristics of the Chinese character system and argues that research in second language contexts has shown that a basic metalinguistic awareness, primarily through extended exposure to the character system, develops over time and is applied to character learning and recall. It argues that while research is limited in school-based second language contexts, the provision of highly interactive, well organized online learning objects may facilitate the development of metalinguistic awareness that has the potential to enhance both the process and outcomes of character learning and use for younger second language learners who presently find the study of characters a particular burden. Future research on the implementation of these resources may provide critical insights into how such resources impact on the rate and nature of learners metalinguistic awareness, and the impact this has on not only character learning and use but on disposition to learn Chinese and overall communicative ability in the longer term.

References Bellassen, J. and Zhang, P. (1997), A Key to Chinese Speech and Writing Vol 1. Beijing: Sinolingua. Board of Studies NSW, (2003), Chinese K-10 syllabus, Sydney BOS NSW. http://www. boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_sc/pdf_doc/chinese_k10_syllabus.pdf Cai, H. (2008), The Chinese Classroom Book 2: First Steps in Reading and Writing. Glasgow: Lexus. Curriculum Corporation (2007), Cracking the Code; Character Catalogue and Teacher Resource. Melbourne: Curriculum Corporation. http://charactercatalogue. thelearningfederation.edu.au/ Department of Education and Children Services (2001), South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability Framework for Languages, Non-Alphabetic Languages. Adelaide: DECS. http://www.sacsa.sa.edu.au/ DETYA (2001), Identifying Critical Factors for Effective Teaching and Learning of Chinese, Japanese and Korean Writing Systems. Canberra: Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA). Everson, M. E. (2005), Developing orthographic awareness among CFL learners: What the research tells us, viewed 17 October 2008, http://www.fask.uni-mainz.de/inst/ chinesisch/hanzirenzhi_papers_everson.htm Fredlein, S. (2007), Nihao 1. Brisbane: Chinasoft. Grabe, W. (2009), Reading in a Second Language; Moving from Theory to Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Koda, K. (2005), ‘Learning to read across writing systems: Transfer, metalinguistic awareness, and second language reading development’, in V. Cook and B. Bassetti (eds), Second Language Writing Systems. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Koda, K. (2007), ‘Reading and language learning: Cross linguistic constraints on second language reading development’, Language Learning, 57, (l 1), 1–44. Ma, Y. and Li, X. (2006), Chinese Made Easy Textbook: Level 1 (Simplified Characters). Hong Kong: Joint Publishing. Nagy, W. (2007), ‘Metalinguistic awareness and vocabulary-comprehension connection’, in R. Wagner, A. Muse and K. Tannenbaum (eds), Vocabulary Acquisition; Implications for Reading Comprehension. New York: Guildford Press. Shen, H. and Ke, C. (2007), ‘Radical awareness and word acquisition among non-native learners of Chinese’, The Modern Language Journal, 91, (1), 97–111. Toyoda, E. and Scrimgeour, A. (2009), ‘Common and script specific awareness in relation to word recognition in English and Chinese’, Language Awareness, 18, (1), 61–73. Zhang, P. (2004), Rapid Literacy in Chinese. Beijing: Sinolingua. Zhuo, J. (2005), Chinese Character Breakthrough/Hanzi Tupo (2 vols). Beijing: Beijing University Press.

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Chapter 14

Teaching and Learning Chinese: A Research Agenda Ken Cruickshank and Linda Tsung

Introduction This book is making the case for the research field of teaching and learning Chinese as a second/additional language. This field of endeavour links a range of contexts: the teaching of Chinese as a modern/foreign language to non-native speakers in China, the United States and elsewhere; the teaching of Chinese to minority groups in China; the teaching of Chinese in contexts such as Singapore and Hong Kong; and the teaching of Chinese as a community/heritage language. Why make a case for such a field? The teaching of Chinese has expanded rapidly in all the above contexts, triggered by global migration, social, educational, economic and political changes. The feature that links all these contexts is the imperative to develop approaches to teaching and learning that take into account the diversity of learners, learning contexts, goals and needs. It may be a truism, but the teaching/learning of a second or other language differs radically from the teaching/learning of a first language. Isn’t it just a mirror image of the TESOL field? The research into teaching/learning Chinese as a second/additional language has much to offer the area of language education. There are language specific issues relating to Chinese such as the system of tones and particles, dialects and the script in its different versions. Some issues apply to other languages such as the range of learners, the diversity of proficiencies and reasons for learning but are more pressing in terms of Chinese. The chapters in this book bring together research into aspects of this field. This final chapter will discuss some of the key issues and point to needs for the research agenda in the field.

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Learning Chinese: Challenges for Learners Motivations and linguistic contexts of learners Why do people learn Chinese? There are a range of reasons. Most learners from Chinese background in the diaspora have traditionally learned Chinese to maintain their cultural and linguistic heritage as part of overseas Chinese community. In the past two decades, the fast growth of China’s economy has extended these goals to include personal benefit and future opportunities of employment. Chinese language, however, implies a range of dialects, such as Cantonese, Hokkien and Teochiu, which are in fact the mother tongue of many learners in the diaspora. Learners have to add learning Putonghua for career and social purposes. The changing of language hierarchies has led to a shift as Li and Zhu (Chapter 2) have indicated in this volume. For minority people in mainland China and Hong Kong, learning Chinese is a matter of survival. Without it, they are excluded from access to basic and further education, employment and social participation in the main society. Thus, it is crucial to learn Chinese and reach a level of Chinese with which they can function at all levels in the broader society. There is also clear evidence on the importance of learning Chinese in China and Hong Kong for minority children and youth for their adjustment to study and life in the mainstream society (e.g. Ku et al., 2005, Loper 2004, Tsung et al., 2008). Language as a means of communication and of acquiring information has a straightforward functional significance. Fluency in the mainstream language is important for day-to-day survival as well as access to education and future careers. Learners are thus challenged to engage in Chinese language learning with limited resources, lack of home support and functional contexts for speaking. This volume demonstrates that ethnic minorities in China and South Asian groups in Hong Kong are being disadvantaged in terms of participation in education and employment. Other non-Chinese learners, in comparison with the minority background learners in China and Hong Kong, tend to be learning Chinese as a second or foreign language for range of purposes: for academic and study reasons, for travel, employment, social interaction or interest. The learning of Chinese in Hong Kong after the colonial era has presented different dilemmas. While the language hierarchies have shifted to mother tongue, globalization has demanded more competence in English, the former colonial language. While supporting the policy of Putonghua, in reality the

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power order is Cantonese, English and Putonghua, reflecting the order of regional language, international language and national language. The national, social, community and personal benefits are rehearsed in the many policy documents promoting the study of Chinese. The teaching of Chinese: 1. enriches our learners intellectually, educationally and culturally 2. enables our learners to communicate across cultures 3. contributes to social cohesiveness through better communication and understanding 4. further develops the existing linguistic and cultural resources in our community 5. contributes to our strategic, economic and international development 6. enhances employment and career prospects for the individual. Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (Australia), 2005: 2 More needs to be known about the learners: the complex linguistic situations in which they operate, their language identities and the motivations and understandings they bring into the classrooms. Without this information policy goals can often be simplistic imposition of complex situations.

Classroom contexts and resources The gap between policy and classroom reality, however, remains a challenge for Chinese as for other languages. It is a challenge for learners to learn Putonghua in schools when their home linguistic heritage is Cantonese. It is even more of a challenge for non-Chinese students to learn Chinese in a class where half of their classmates are from Chinese background; no matter how hard they try, they will be not able to compete with them in grades. It is also a problem when they have to sit for the examinations with the native Chinese students as do South Asian students in Hong Kong. There are a number of barriers to non-Chinese learners becoming functional users of Chinese which are created by the education systems themselves: untrained Chinese teachers and poorly designed curriculum and assessment make Chinese too difficult to learn and achieve goals. Among the dilemmas faced by minority students in China and Hong Kong the crucial one over many decades has been what constitutes adequate instruction

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in Putonghua and English. Failure to resolve this problem has decreased educational opportunities for minority students in Hong Kong. To a certain extent, the low teacher expectations of the capabilities of minority students could also contribute to low self-esteem among nonChinese-speaking students. Inappropriate curriculum, lack of funding, substandard teaching quality, teachers’ low expectations of children, as well as a lack of training and awareness of minority education and culture, all are areas of concern for children of ethnic minorities (Ku et al., 2005; Lee 2006; Loper 2004). More focused and structured work needs to be done on the needs of these children to improve educational practices, experiences and outcomes. Learners in the Chinese classroom have always had mixed levels of Chinese. It is difficult for teachers to conduct lessons and also difficult for the learners. When too easy they lose interest and motivation, when too difficult they feel their self-esteem is under threat. These mixed levels of learners’ motivation and engagement impact on their potential to learn and achieve the learning outcome. In most situations mixed level classes derive from prior learning. There may be similar backgrounds but different exposure to the language (i.e. through primary school language learning and through home use of Chinese): that is, different learner backgrounds, different levels of achievement and different levels of engagement with Chinese (in some cases it is in fact not a second language for such learners). All of these learners require different attention and strategies for teaching and learning. The following areas are, therefore, key ones for further research: the motivations and goals of the stakeholders in learning/teaching Chinese: governments, teachers and schools, learners and their families and communities; how these motivations/goals are constructed and impact on learner identities; the differences between learning Chinese as a first and second/ additional/heritage language; educational experiences and outcomes of the range of students learning Chinese as second/additional language and the interrelationships of factors which are responsible for these outcomes; policy and program development and evaluation. The research would involve quantitative, qualitative and mixed method approaches. There is an urgent need for a strong research base to policy

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and program development and for evidence-based teaching of Chinese, particularly in light of the rapid expansion of this area.

Curriculum, Pedagogy and Resources Learning Chinese, like all language learning, is time consuming. What skills and knowledge does this diversity of learners need to acquire to meet the demands of their future careers and social life? Learners often find that the Chinese they have practiced in the class is not actually spoken. In the same way, they have been asked to handwrite Chinese or copy Chinese characters many times, where Chinese people generally type characters with a keyboard these days. Learners of Chinese are expected to be hard working and the memorization of thousands of Chinese characters is regarded as normal practice. Failure to do so often results in poor learning outcomes. There are assumptions from the teaching of literacy to Chinese native speakers which are transferred to the teaching of spoken and written Chinese as a second/additional language (Bell, 1995). Scrimgeour’s approaches in this volume (Chapter 13) is a valuable contribution to the area of second language literacy in Chinese. This transfer of assumptions about the nature of the learners also hampers teachers in working with mixed level classes and the diversity of the student group; students are seen as ‘unsuccessful’ native speakers. There are a number of variables that can be used to attend to this mixed level in the same class, such as the variations to task, text, conditions and expectations, but most teachers have problems in handling the variations, thus making learning difficult for the learners. Is there a unitary approach to pedagogy for the teaching of Chinese as a second/additional language? Holliday (2004) argues for contextually appropriate language pedagogies. In the development of teaching approaches can be seen first the shift from teaching Chinese as a first to Chinese as a second/additional language. This shift involves the understanding that the development of second and other languages is different in nature to the development of a first. It involves the understanding of research into second language development and of the understandings of language knowledge and other contextual and cultural knowledge which learners bring to the task of language learning. In the development of appropriate pedagogies in Chinese can be seen the shift from grammar-translation to audio-lingual and communicative/ functional approaches drawing on structural linguistics. In the 1980s there

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was the advent of task-based approaches and much greater reliance on authentic materials and situations of use. An interesting development in recent years has been the application of insights from systemic functional grammar, genre-based approaches and the curriculum cycle to the teaching of Chinese. There is a developing body of research into the text types of Chinese and how this can facilitate the teaching of spoken and written discourse (Shum, 2006; Wang, 2003). Language teaching approaches are developed in specific contexts in response to particular demands and similarly their implementation in other contexts require adaptation to meet a range of different factors. For Chinese, one of these factors is linguistic. Learning a logographic script involves more memorization and different reading skills to the learning of an alphabetic script. For speakers of European languages, acquiring a tonal system and the system of particles require much metalinguistic awareness (Scrimgeour, Chapter 13). These differences impact upon the teaching methodology. The sociolinguistic nature of Chinese with its spoken dialects and single script but with complex and simplified characters also impacts on pedagogy. The complexity is reflected to some extent in the ‘trilingual/ biliterate’ language policy in Hong Kong. Another influencing factor is the diversity of learners and the necessity to have differentiated teaching and curriculum. This diversity is now having an impact on school and tertiary teaching in all teaching contexts including in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The growth of evidence-based teaching approaches in Chinese is important as is the basing of pedagogy more on research rather than on tradition or trends. Curriculum and syllabus development for Chinese is also challenged by the diversity. The development of curriculum and programs for learning Chinese for specific purposes (Lu and Zhao, Chapter 8) is a pleasing one. On the one hand many Australian states have opted for generic ‘Language other than English’ (LOTE) syllabuses. On the other hand, different syllabuses have been developed for Chinese ‘background’ and ‘non-background’ speakers in an attempt not to ‘advantage’ any particular group. The effect of this, however, has been to penalize second- and third-generation Chinese-Australians who have struggled to maintain their language. Clyne (1998) describes some seven different profiles of ‘background’ speakers and three for ‘non-background’ speakers, giving a continuum of different skills and experiences with the language. He found that speakers of Cantonese who had not gained literacy in Chinese were most disadvantaged in terms of the Mandarin Chinese background syllabus. He also found that

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teachers made few attempts to motivate second- and third-generation background speakers in the classrooms. Clyne (1998) does not argue for curriculum to be diversified to the nth degree but rather for enrichment options such as special materials for different groups of learners, distance education and self-access materials using the new technologies, At present few textbooks and curriculum materials reflect the range of categories of learners. Tsung and Cruickshank (Chapter 7) questions the cultural content of materials used for teaching Chinese to Uyghur children in Xinjiang region. Zhou (Chapter 9) finds that textbooks rely more on market demands than research and that teachers’ training and practice determine textbook content rather than student needs. Another area in which the diversity of learners could be addressed is through recent developments in assessment with proficiency tests being developed in China, Taiwan and elsewhere. Most of these tests still require validation studies but their development may answer the challenge of the wide range of learners in the classroom and the control that external examinations have on the teaching of Chinese. The establishment of widely researched and accepted proficiency rating scales for Chinese would have several benefits: high attrition rates for beginning learners could be avoided with explicit and achievable outcomes; learners in mixed level classes could work on achieving proficiency outcomes according to their levels of development; curriculum and teaching could focus more on proficiency and learners would have outcomes which could transfer to different schools and learning contexts, with accepted certification. Many of these developments presume adequate resourcing but much of the research in this volume indicates that this is not happening. Tsung and Cruickshank (Chapter 7) highlight the urban-rural disparity in resourcing for the teaching of Chinese to minority groups in China and the inadequacy of resourcing in general. Resourcing of Chinese programs in the United States (Zhou, Chapter 9) relies still on external funding and hence there is a lack of long-term planning. This is similar to the context in Australia where much of the funding for Chinese has been federally funded ‘seeding’ funding without prospects of being taken up by the state systems. It will be interesting to see research into the system of Confucius Institutes

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and the extent to which these can affect systematic and systemic change. The situation in Hong Kong with South Asian learners of Chinese also relies on short-term funding, much of which has been devolved to school level (Zhang et al., Chapter 5). The gap between government policy and on the ground resources is also evident in Taiwan (Chen and Hsin, Chapter 11).

Teaching Chinese: Teacher Training and Supply A key issue in recent studies and reports has been teacher training and professional development and the lack of suitably qualified teachers of Chinese (Orton; Tsung and Cruickshank; Chen and Hsin, this volume). Studies in China have highlighted the lack of qualified teachers of Chinese for minority language learners, especially in rural areas (Tsung, 2009); in the United States and other countries the lack of teachers of Chinese for primary and secondary schools has been an issue; staffing for community/heritage language schools is also a common problem because of the generally voluntary nature of teaching in these schools. The major area of need has been identified as ‘suitably qualified’ teachers, in other words having teachers who have sufficient skills and knowledge to operate successfully in classrooms and meet standards for accreditation. The debate about native-/non-native background speakers has been a key one in language education research with much argument about the bias against non-native speaking teachers of English in TESOL (Holliday, 2005; Snow et al., 2006). Orton (Chapter 10) argues that the challenges for native English speakers teaching Chinese are greater (than for those teaching other languages) because of teachers’ levels of Chinese language competence especially in the use of tones, particles and characters. There is, however, as much diversity in the teachers of Chinese as in the learners, with teachers who may have Cantonese and other dialects as their first language or those who have languages such as Korean or Japanese that share some lexical items and characters with Chinese. The question as Orton (Chapter 10) argues is primarily what knowledge and skills, what levels of language competence in both Chinese and the languages of the students are required of teachers; in other words, the nature of pre-service and in-service professional development. In China and Taiwan moves have been made for the recognition of Chinese as a second/additional language (Lu and Zhao, Chapter 8). In Taiwan, however, teachers are concerned about pay and conditions and levels of recognition and in China the focus has been on CSL to ‘foreigners’ rather than in

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teacher training for teachers of Chinese for minority groups (Tsung and Cruickshank, Chapter 7). In Hong Kong recognition of CSL has not yet permeated teacher training (Zhang et al., Chapter 5). In Australia the focus on LOTE (Languages other than English) as a unitary subject has accompanied the winding back of Chinese-specific language teacher education. The level of language competence and knowledge in both Chinese and the language/s of the students is a key issue. The development of language proficiency standards for teachers of Chinese by the Hanban, in the United States and by the MOE in Taiwan are good milestones, but have not yet stopped governments implementing questionable short-term Chinese language programs for teachers. Orton (Chapter 10) identifies the need for Chinese teachers to be able to explain aspects of Chinese in English. The challenge lies in the recognition and acceptance of proficiency standards in both Chinese and the language/s of the learners. The MOE certification test in Taiwan will include compulsory testing in one of eight learner languages in 2010 (Chen and Hsin, Chapter 11). In most Australian states, teachers of Chinese need to have levels of proficiency in English at 7/7.5 on IELTS; but there is often, however, no equivalent prerequisite proficiency level required for teaching Chinese. Many studies point to the basic understandings that Chinese teachers need of students: not to judge second language learners as ‘inadequate’ native speakers. Gao Fang (Chapter 6) identifies the teachers’ high expectations of minority Korean students learning Chinese as instrumental in their high academic achievement just as Tsung reported teachers negative attitudes to learners and low expectations of capabilities of minority children due to their culture and religion disvaluing in the mainstream society (Hansen, 1999; Kwong and Xiao,1989; Lee, 2001; White, 1998 in Tsung, 2009). There is a cognitive leap for teachers to make between first and second language teaching. Teachers of Chinese as a second/additional language need strong training in language teaching methodologies and in pedagogies appropriate to the context (Holliday, 2004). Both Orton (2008) and Zhou (Chapter 9) identify the issue that ‘many Chinese language teachers are trained in East Asian languages and cultures departments where the focus of training is generally on literature and cultural studies, with little or no preparation in language pedagogy’ (Zhou, Chapter 9). With scant funding for professional development these teachers become marginalized in school systems. The challenge for teacher educators is to develop teachers’ skills in adapting teaching approaches to specific contexts and students as there is no single approach to teaching Chinese: learning

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Chinese for two hours a week in a community/heritage school in California is vastly different to learning Chinese to participate in the school system in Hong Kong. In addition to language teaching methodology and teaching skills comes a whole area that relates to contextual knowledge: knowing students’ cultural backgrounds, the cultures of the school system, knowing how to engage, motivate and manage student learning in these environments. It is interesting that the teachers in Gao Fang’s study were third- and fourthgeneration Korean-Chinese teachers who were committed to increasing their students’ access to the mainstream society. Teachers need explicit intercultural understandings of both their students’ cultural backgrounds and of Chinese societies. Orton (Chapter 10) also identifies culturally specific notions of individual identity, learner-centred pedagogy and other areas which ‘are difficult matters to put fully into words’. A key prerequisite is for teachers of Chinese to have teacher qualifications that meet local accreditation standards. Several reports have identified the problems occurring when teachers without full accreditation or teaching assistants are employed (CILT, 2005). This means that teacher education needs pathways for Chinese teachers to gain local accreditation. There are large numbers of Chinese native speakers in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and elsewhere with unrecognized qualifications and there are many barriers to these teachers upgrading their skills. Gaining accurate information on retraining, getting advanced standing into appropriate programs, inappropriate programs, lack of part-time and alternate mode courses are some of the challenges that these teachers face. Instead of upskilling native speakers in teaching, several educational systems have taken the tortuous path of trying to teach accredited teachers in Chinese from a beginner level. There is also a need for continuing professional development. One recent report found the primary concern of school principals was not a shortage of teachers but of ‘highly qualified’ teachers; that graduates had only taken ‘generic modern language methods’ courses not targeted at Chinese and that this failing was a key factor in the high attrition rates of students learning Chinese (Orton, 2008).

A Research Agenda for Teaching/Learning Chinese as a Second/Additional Language The rapid development of Chinese as a second/additional language strengthens the call for a research agenda. Priorities could include the following:

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further research into the range of contexts and the learners themselves. What backgrounds, strengths and needs do the learners have? research into second and other language development; there is a need for language specific research on how Chinese developed as second/ additional language in range of contexts. This would include linguistics research and research into the learners themselves. Very little of learners’ voices is heard in any of the research; pedagogy – most research is small-scale studies or descriptive studies of individual programs. There is a need for large-scale studies using validated instruments and also more in-depth qualitative studies; teaching needs to be evidence/research based; there is a place for mixed mode studies and the development of validated assessment and proficiency scales; research into Chinese for Academic and Specific Purposes such as for tertiary secondary study as in Hong Kong, Beijing and minority language contexts; sociolinguistic and policy studies into the issues surrounding the development of CSL such as in the work of the Confucius Institutes; evidence-based approaches to teaching, drawing on recent linguistic and educational research; policy studies which link and compare research across teaching/learning contexts; applied linguistics research into second language development in Chinese; research into the development and validation of appropriate assessment instruments and tools; qualitative research into classroom teaching and learning in a range of contexts. The above list may seem like an unrealistic ‘wish list’. Recent publications and work taking place, however, indicates that it may not be that unrealistic. It is hoped that this volume provides a small step towards establishing and achieving this agenda.

References Bell, J. (1995), ‘The relationship between L1 and L2 literacy: Some complicating factors’, TESOL Quarterly, 29, (4), 687–704. CILT, The National Centre for Languages (2005), Talking World Class: The impact of language skills on the UK economy, The National Centre for Languages, UK, viewed 24 December 2009, http://www.cilt.org.uk/pdf/pubs/talking_world_class.pdf

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Clyne, M. (1998), ‘Managing language diversity and second language programmes in Australia’, in S. Wright, H. Kelly-Holmes and M. Clyne (eds), Managing Language Diversity. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, pp. 4–29. Hansen, M. H. (1999), Lessons in Being Chinese: Minority Education and Ethnic Identity in Southwest China. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Holliday, A. (2004), Appropriate Methodology and Social Context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Holliday, A. (2005), The Struggle to Teach English as an International Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ku, H. B., Chan, K. W. and Sandhu, K. K. (2005), A Research Report on the Education of South Asian Ethnic Minority Groups in Hong Kong (2nd edition), Hong Kong: Centre for Social Policy Studies, Department of Applied Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Unison Hong Kong. Kwong, J. and Xiao, H. (1989), ‘Educational equality among China’s minorities’, Comparative Education, 25, (2), 229–243. Lee, D. (2001), Cognitive Linguistics: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lee, M. S. (2006), ‘Becoming multilingual: A study of South Asian students in a Hong Kong secondary school.’ Master dissertation, University of Hong Kong. Loper, K. (2004), Race and Equality: A Study of Ethnic Minorities in Hong Kong’s Education System. Hong Kong: Centre for Comparative and Public Law, Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong. Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (Australia) (2005), National statement for languages education in Australian schools: National plan for languages education in Australian schools 2005–2008, The State of South Australia, Department of Education and Children’s Services, DECS Publishing, http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/languageeducation_ file.pdf Orton, J. (2008), Chinese Language Education in Australia Schools, October 2008. Melbourne, Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne. Shum, M. S. K. (2006), ‘Exploring an approach for teaching subject-specific genres in Chinese’, Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 29, (1), [online]. Snow, M., Kamhi-Stein, L. and Brinton, D. (2006), ‘Teacher training for English as a lingua franca’, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 26, 261–281. Tsung, L. (2009), Minority Languages, Education and Communities in China. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Tsung, T. H., Shum, M. S. K. and Ki, W. W. (2008), ‘Language situation of South Asian students in Hong Kong’, in Language Situation in China: 2007. Beijing: Commercial Press. Wang, W. (2003), ‘A contrastive analysis of letters to the editor in English and Chinese’, Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 27, (1), 72–88. White, P. R. R. (1998), ‘Telling media tales: The news story as rhetoric.’ Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Sydney, Sydney.

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ability-banding model 35, 39, 40 Advanced Chinese 138 Africa 12, 81, 118, 134 All-China Association for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language 119 American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) 145, 155 Appadurai, A. 5 Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) 119 Asia 118 Asia Society 152 audio-lingual method 136, 139 Australasia 3, 6, 65 Australia 2, 3, 9, 22, 153, 155, 156, 218, 219, 221, 222 Australian Department of Education (DETYA) 204 Australian Federation of Modern Language Teacher Associations (AFMLTA) 155 professional standards for accomplished teaching of languages and cultures 157 Balls, E. xiii, xiv Bayley, R. 193 Bearne, E. 31 Beginning Chinese 138, 139 Beijing Foreign Studies University 118 Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) 118, 123, 125 Bell, J. 72 Berry, J. W. 90 Bianco, J. L. xiii biculturalism 3, 86–7 biglossia 45 Bilingual Education Act (1968), United States 136 bilingualism xviii, 3, 7, 29, 30 education 7

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literacy and 82, 98 teaching 88, 109–10 see also Korean minorities in China and bilingual education Bourhis, R. Y. 183 Bradley, D. 4 British Academy xv British Chinese community and Chinese language 12–15 British Council on Languages (CILT) 155 bulletin boards, online 5 Bullock Report 31, 33 Bush, G. W. 140 Byram, M. 86 Canada 12, 31 Cantonese language 3, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19–21, 56, 215, 218 Carnegie Foundation 138 Central Pacific Railroad 182 Certification Examination for Proficiency in Teaching Chinese as a Second/ Foreign Language 165–6, 171 Cha, Y. K. xiii, xvi challenges, for Chinese learners classroom contexts and resources 215–17 motivation and linguistic contexts, of learners 214–15 Chamot, A. 87 Chao, Y. Y. 119 Chapman, C. 33 Chen, S. 177 Chicago Public Schools 151 China Youth Corps 166 Chinese as foreign language 4, 8 Chinese as second language (CSL) 2, 9, 69, 76, 78, 82, 209, 221 certification system, in Taiwan 172–4 graduate and undergraduate programs, in Taiwan 167–8

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Chinese as second language (CSL) (Cont’d) history, in Taiwan 166–7 learning, in China 81–2 MOE and 169 research agenda for 222–3 short-term teacher training program, in Taiwan 168 teacher certification implementation, in Taiwan 171–2 teachers in Taiwan, current status of 169–71 teacher training prospects, in Taiwan 174–6 teaching of see minority education Chinese as the medium of instruction (CMI) 64 Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), United States 182 Chinese heritage language (CHL) 190, 192 Chinese Language Association of Secondary-Elementary Schools (CLASS) 155 Chinese Language Curriculum and Pedagogy Review Committee (CLCPRC) 30, 31, 40, 41, 42 Chinese Language Education in Australian Schools 152 Chinese language in United States 181 business and 186 Chinese education 189–91 economic status and 191–2 ethnolingual framework 183 government services 188–9 historical background 181–3 language shift, signs of 192–3 media and 186–7 social status and 191 speaker distribution 184–5 speaker numbers 183–4 Chinese Language Proficiency Scales and Outline 121 Chinese Language Special Course for Foreign Students 117 Chinese language teachers, teaching of challenging standards 154–8 cultural challenges 161 linguistic challenges 159–61 teacher candidates 161–3 teacher supply 151–3 Chinese Primer 139

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Chinese Proficiency Scales and Grading Outline 123 Chinese Proficiency Scales for Vocabulary and Chinese Characters 123 Chinese School Association in the United States (CSAUS) 189 Chinese second language classrooms 197 effective teaching critical factors and writing systems 204–9 metalinguistic awareness and reading skills 197–200 metalinguistic skills in Chinese 200–4 Chinese Teaching in the World 119 Chung Yuan Christian University 167 Civil Rights Movement 135 Clyne, M. 218, 219 Coatsworth, J. 134 College Board United States 145, 151 Collier, V. 65, 87, 112, 113 Combinative Chinese Series 125 Communicative Approach 139 communicativity xxi–xxii Community Language Learning 139 community organizations, Chinese in British urban areas 14 comparative method 120 competence 31, 35, 41, 51, 84, 90, 98, 126–7, 154, 156, 162, 209, 214, 220–1 intercultural 161 multilingual 140 of teachers 54–8 tonal 160 complementary schools in Britain, Chinese 14–15 Chinese regional languages and 17–22 language as culture and 16–17 pinyin system and 24 simplified characters and 23–4 standard language ideology and 22–3 confidence 37, 38, 89, 162 cultural xxi lack of 39 in Putonghua teaching for teachers 55, 58, 59, 60 self- 75, 104 Confucius Institutes 2, 3, 188, 219 cooperative learning 39 Cracking the Code Character Catalogue 206

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Index Component Index 207 Inter-character Analysis 207–8 Cruickshank, K. xviii, 1, 8, 63, 97, 213, 219 C-Test 124 cultural revolution 118 cultural spaces and internet 5 curriculum 29, 46, 66, 76–7, 113, 121, 128, 178 CSL 78, 112 differentiated 32, 33, 34, 38, 40, 41–2 diversity and 218, 219 for further Chinese studies program 122–3 inappropriate 66, 69, 216 and pedagogy and resources 217–20 for preparatory Chinese program 122 Putonghua 50, 56 for short-term Chinese program 123 TCFL 122 TCSL 172–3, 175, 177 in Uyghur 102, 109 Curriculum Development Commission 46 Defense Act (1958), United States 137 DeFrancis, J. 138, 139 Deng, Y. 119, 120 De Swaan, A. xxii dialects, rough 18–19 diaspora xvii, 3, 6, 13, 214 differentiation in school curriculum, in Singapore 42 administrative arrangements for modular system 34–6 instruction materials, use and perceptions of 36–8 literature review 31–3 pedagogy 38–9 study methodology 33–4 diglossia 13 diversity and curriculum 218, 219 in diaspora population 3 in learners 3, 4 reasons for learning and 4 Division of Preparatory Programs for Overseas Chinese Students at the NTNU 166 Dodge Foundation 138–9 Domizio, H. L. 169, 170

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227

Education Bureau 57 Elementary Chinese Reader 139 English as the medium of instruction (EMI) 64 English language 30, 71, 75, 215, 216 as monolingual 135 ethnicity, distilled 87 ethnologue.com 14 ethnoscapes 5 Europe 3, 65, 81, 118 experimental classes 125–6 Fang, S. 169, 170 financescapes 5 first foreign language (FFL) xiii, xx Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) 188 France xxiii, 1, 2 Francis, B. 17 Freeman Asia program 143 Freeman Foundation 143 Fujian 13 Fulbright-Hays Act (1961), United States 137 Gao, F. xviii, 7, 45, 81, 221 Gardner, R. C. 77, 84 General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) xv, 65 general mapping principles 198, 200 globalization 5, 8, 11 and Internet 4–5 and language 12 language learning and xiv–xvi and language order 132–5 TCFL in United States and 140–6 Grabe, W. 210 grammar teaching 127 grammar-translation method 4, 119, 136, 139 Greenberg approach xxii Gregory, G. H. 33 Guangdong 13 Guiney, D. 32 Hainan 13 Hakka 6, 13, 14, 20 Halliday, M. A. K. 2 Ham, S. H. xiii, xvi

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228

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Han 7, 83, 86, 88–9, 90, 91, 97, 98, 100–1, 102, 103–4, 107, 108–9 Hanban 143, 145, 146, 151, 188 Hanban 2, 157 Standards for Teachers of Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages 155 hanzu schools 100 Hindi 64, 76 Hokkien 3, 5, 6, 13, 14, 20 Holliday, A. 217 Hong Kong xviii, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 14, 20, 24, 25, 45, 184, 186, 214, 216, 218, 220, 221 Biliterate and Trilingual policy in 7 teaching and learning through Putonghua in 45–58 see also South Asian students’ educational experience and attainment Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) 65 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) 63 Hsin, S. 169, 170 Hsin, S.-C. xix, 8, 9, 165 HSK 104, 123–4 Hsu, K. Y. 138 Hua, Zhu xvii, 6, 11 Hudson, G. 84 Huntsmanm J., Jr. 151 Identifying Critical Factors Report 204, 205 ideoscapes 5 Implementing Regulations on Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) of China 123 India 29, 69 Indonesia 3, 12, 29 Inner Mongolian 98 instrumental motivation 81, 84, 85 Integrated Chinese 144 integrative motivation 77, 84, 85 intercultural competence 161 interculturalism 82 Intermediate Chinese Reader 138 International Chinese Teaching Society 119 Internet and global technology, impact of 4–5 Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) 155

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model standards, for licensing beginning foreign language teachers 156 Japan 2 Jia, G. 193 Jia, L. 193 Jianji, Lu xix, 8, 117 Joint Declaration 46 Journal of Chinese Language Teachers Association 2 Jyutping 70 Ke, B. S. 120 Ke, C. 201 Kennedy, G. 136 Ki, W.-W. xviii, 63 Koda, K. 199 Korean minorities in China and bilingual education 81 ethnic Koreans’ motivations for learning Chinese language 83–7 ethnic Koreans’ strategies for learning Chinese language 87–90 study methodology 83 Koreans, ethnic motivations for learning Chinese language 83–7 strategies for learning Chinese language 87–90 Kuo, E. C. Y. xxii language Chinese, varieties in 17–19 as culture 16–17, 26 and globalization xiv–xvi, 12 ideology, standard 22–3 standardization 13 see also individual entries language order 131 and globalization 132–5 TCFL history in United States and ideology 135–9 TCFL in United States and globalization 140–6 Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers 48 Languages other than English (LOTE) 221

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Index Language Study Program for Expatriate Youth 167 Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies 119 Latin America 118 The Le@rning Federation 205, 206 Learning Chinese 119 learning objects 205–6 Lee, S. K. 3 lexical-syntactic system, as a pedagogic model 127 Li, G. 192 Li, P. Y. 120 Li, W. 192 Li, X. Q. 127 Lieberson approach xxii literate bilinguals 82, 98 Loper, K. 67 Lü, B. S. 121 Luce Foundation 142 majority language 7 Malay language 29 Malaysia 3, 12, 29 Mandarin 3, 12, 13, 14, 20 developing teachers for 152–3 differences in 4 shift to 5, 6 Mandarin Chinese 138 Mandarin Daily News Training Centre 166 Mandarin Language Learning Research Study 152 Mao Zedong 118 mediascapes 5 merged schooling 111–13 metalinguistic awareness in Chinese 200–4 and reading skills 197–200 Methode d’Initiation a la Langue et a l’Ecriture Chinoises 125 Microsoft 4 Min 12 Minglang Zhou xix, 131, 219, 221 min han hexiao schools 100 min kao min 100 minority education 97 minority language 7 minority nationalities (shaoshu minzu) 81

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229

minzu schools 100 mixed method 119 monolingualism, English 135 Montgomery, D. 31 morphological knowledge 199 motivation 32, 52, 65, 66, 82, 83, 109, 216, 219 of ethnic Koreans, for learning Chinese language 83–7 global 136 instrumental 81, 84, 85 integrative 77, 78, 81 learning of 72–4 and linguistic contexts of learners 214–15 and strategies for Chinese language acquisition 83–90 multiculturalism 92 multilingualism 11, 135 competence in 140 globalization cycles and 134 ideology of 132–3, 136 as resource 141 societal 132, 133, 135 Nagy, W. 200, 209 National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools (NALSAS) Strategy 204 National Centre for Languages in United Kingdom 152 National Chi Nan University 166 National Conference on Chinese Language Teaching 151 National Council of Associations of Chinese Language Schools (NCACLS) 189 The National East Asian Languages Resource Centre, Ohio State University 155 National Flagship Language Initiative, United States 140 National Kaohsiung Normal University 167 National Language Defense Education Act (1958), United States 141 National Overseas Experimental Senior High School 166

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230

Index

National Security Education Act (1991), United States 140, 147 National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) 140, 188 National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) College of International Studies and Education Committee for Overseas Chinese 168 Department of Applied Chinese Languages and Literature 168 Department of Chinese Languages and Literature for International Students 168 Graduate Institute of TCSL 167, 168, 169, 175 Mandarin Training Centre (MTC) 166, 170 Neidiban (the inland schools) 98 Nepal 69, 76 Netease 4 New Practical Chinese Reader 144 New Zealand 3, 12 No Child Left Behind Act 147 North America 3, 65, 81, 118, 186 O’Brien, T. 32 Oceania 118 Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED) 32 O’Malley, J. 87 online newspapers 4 orthographic knowledge 198–9 Orton, J. xix, 8, 9, 151, 220, 221, 222 Overseas Expatriate Affairs Commission (OCAC) 166 Oxford, R. 87 Pakistan 69, 74, 75 parental attitudes to Chinese and mother tongue 107–8 pedagogy 33, 217 Chinese language 8–9, 104–5, 158–63 and differentiation in Chinese language education 38–9 and grammar 127 Peking University 117, 118, 119 People’s University 120

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Peru 12 Philippines 3, 12, 69 Phillipson, R. xxii, xxiii phonological awareness 199 Ping Pong Diplomacy 139 pinyin system 24, 139 Pipeline Flagship Programs 188 Plowden Report 31, 32 polyglossia 13 Portes, A. 67 Postiglione, G. A. 91 Practical Chinese Reader 144 Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) 34, 37 Prism Model 87 pull-out model and Singaporean modular system 35, 38 Punjabi 76 Putonghua xviii, 3, 5, 7, 13, 18, 25, 97, 98, 110, 214, 215, 216 difficulties in teaching, in Hong Kong 52–4 Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers 48 significance of learning 23 teachers’ attitudes towards, and learning 48–52 teachers’ competency of, and professional development 54–8 Qinghua University 117, 119 Qunying Zhang xviii, 63 Q-value xxii radical awareness 201–2 radical knowledge 202 reading comprehension 200 and listening comprehension 126–7 regional languages 19 Cantonese domination among 19–21 Northerners and Southerners speaking 21–2 rough dialects in 18–19 Rhamie, J. 66 Road to Success textbooks 126 Sandei, T. 5 San Francisco State College 138 School Effectiveness for Language Minority Students’ study 65, 112

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Index School of Oriental Arabic and Semitic Studies (SOAS) 1 SCOLAR (Standing Committee on Language Education and Research) 57 Scrimgeour, A. xx, 9, 160, 197, 217 second language acquisition 81 self ascription 86 self-censorship 21 self-confidence 75, 104 self-cultivation, of teachers 58 self-efficacy 58, 76 self-esteem 216 self-learning 41 Seton Hall University 138 Shanghai 21, 22 Shen, H. 201 Shijie Hanyu Jiaoxue 2 Shum, M. xviii, 7, 45, 63 Silent Way 139 simplified characters 23–4 Sims, R. R. 32 Sims, S. J. 32 Sina portal site 4 Singapore 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 22, 24, 29 see also differentiation in school curriculum, in Singapore Skutnabb-Kangas, T. 91, 112 societal multilingualism 132, 133, 135 soft power xxiii Sohu.com 4 South Africa 12 South Asian students 63, 66–8 educational experiences in school 74–6 minority students’ educational provision, research into 65–6 motivation, learning 72–4 study methodology 68–9 teachers’ readiness and efficacy in teaching of 69–71 teaching strategies and methods 71–2 South Korea 2 Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR) 46 STARTALK 188 State Education Commission, China 97 Stewart, V. 152, 190

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231

subsidy 57 Suggestopedia 139 T’ung, P. 170 Tai-gi (Hokkien) 5 Taipei Language Institute 166 Taiwan 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 13, 24, 26, 138, 184, 186, 218, 219, 220, 221 see also under Chinese as second language (CSL) Tamil 29 Tamkang University 166 Tan, W. X. xvii, 6, 29 TCSL teacher training development in Taiwan see under Chinese as second language Teacher Resource 206 teacher supply Chinese 103–4, 151–3, 220–3 Mandarin 156 teacher training 69, 111, 155, 156, 157, 158, 220–3 CSL 76, 78, 167–9, 174–7 programs 153, 154 TCSL, in Taiwan 165 teaching, bilingual 88 Teaching Chinese as foreign language (TCFL) 8, 117 Chinese tests 123–4 curriculum for further Chinese program 122–3 curriculum for preparatory Chinese program 122 curriculum for short-term Chinese program 123 grammar and vocabulary in teaching 127 history 117–19 integrated and skill-focused language teaching 125–6 issues 124–5 reading and listening comprehension 126–7 teaching methods 119–21 in United States see language order technoscapes 5 Teochiu 3 Terwel, J. 32 Test of Proficiencies for Huayu 171 Thailand 3, 12

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Index

Thayer, G. 137 Thomas, W. P. 65, 87, 112, 113 Tibet 98 tonal competence 160 Tongqiang, Xu 125 Total Physical Response Method 139 Transcontinental Railroad 182 transfer effects and metalinguistic awareness 199–200 transnational global Chinese culture 3 triglossia 45 Tse, S. K. xvii, 6, 29 Tsu, J. B. 136, 137, 139 Tsung, L. xviii, 1, 7, 8, 45, 63, 66, 97, 213, 219 Tsung, T. H. 76 UK Federation of Chinese Schools 14 United Kingdom 2, 6, 14, 22, 31, 65, 66, 155, 222 differentiation in curriculum in 32 see also complementary schools in Britain, Chinese United States 1, 2, 3, 8, 14, 31, 66, 220, 221, 222 Chinese language teaching in 9 see also Chinese language in United States professional standards for Chinese language teachers in 158 see also language order urban and rural students, access between 110–11 Urdu 64, 76 US Census Bureau Survey (2007) 191, 192 US-China Cultural Engagement Act, United States 141–2 US-China Diplomatic Expansion Act (2009) 142 US Office of Education 138 Uyghurs 86, 98 Chinese teaching to students of 99–112 Vietnam 3, 69 vocabulary instruction 200 vocabulary teaching 127 Wade-Giles Romanization system 136, 137 Wang, S. xx, 190 Wang, S. C. 152

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Wang, X. Z. 120 Wee, L. 5 Wei, Li xvii, 6, 11 Weston, P. B. 32 Wong-Fillmore, L. 192 word recognition 198, 199, 201 World Chinese Language Association Training Centre 166 World Journal, The 186, 187 World of Chinese, The 119 Wu 12 Xiao, Y. 193 Xiao, Y. xix, xx, 9, 181 Xinjiang Education Press 106 Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) 7–8, 97 background of 99–101 bilingual teaching 109–10 Chinese language context 108–9 Chinese language textbooks 105–7 Chinese pedagogy 104–5 Chinese teacher supply 103–4 merged schooling 111–13 parental attitudes to Chinese and mother tongue 107–8 Putonghua and English accessibility and education 110 study methodology 101–3 urban and rural students, access between 110–11 Xu, H. 192 Yahoo! 4 Yale Romanization system 136–7 Yanbian 98 Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture 82 Yandong, Mme Liu 151 Yang, G. 4, 5 Yang, H. Y. 127 Yea-Fen Chen xix, 8, 9, 165 Yeh, T. 165, 170 Yongxin, Z. 117 Yongxin, Zha xix, 8 Yuyan Jiaoxue Yanjiu 2 Zhang, P. 160 Zhou, M. 67 Zhou, Z. M. 119, 120 zi, as basic structural unit 125

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