Promoting Teaching and Learning of Chinese for Non-native Learners Locally, Regionally and Internationally

Abstract:

Non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students’ learning of the Chinese language has become an increasingly pressing issue in the education sector of Hong Kong. Up till 2011, there were 14,000 NCS students studying in the mainstream schools (Census & Statistics Department, The Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 2011) and the number is growing. The current situation also presents a challenge for Chinese language teachers in mainstream schools as few of them are experienced in teaching NCS students while most are not equipped with effective teaching strategies to do so (Tse & Loh, 2010). The major reason lies in that these teachers are not trained to teach students in this age group with extremely low Chinese proficiency, nor are they prepared for teaching Chinese as Second Language (CSL) with classes having diverse learning needs. In this presentation, Prof. Shek-kam Tse will give an overview of a series of over 20 projects on teaching, learning and assessment for Chinese Language for NCS students ranging from kindergarten to secondary school levels. He and his team will also examine effective ways of the support provided for schools in terms of school-based curricula, differentiated authentic teaching materials, assessment and diversified teaching strategies in advancing teaching of the CSL in NCS or ethnically mixed classrooms.