Last week, we invited Yamin Ma and Xinying Li to give a lecture on teaching Chinese as a foreign Language in Utah and Alberta. Teacher Ma and teacher Li shared their experiences on teaching methods and strategies and lots of Chinese language teachers attended the lecture. During the lecture, inspiring talks given centered around topics like teaching approaches, in-classroom strategies, and curriculum implementation.

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国际汉语教学经验分享
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2. Self Introduction
 First degree in English Language and Literature
 Master’s degree in Curriculum Design and
Instruction; Post-graduate Diploma in Applied
Linguistics
 Teaching English/Chinese as a foreign language in
China and abroad
 Currently teaching Chinese in an international
school in Hong Kong

3. Focus of today’s workshop
 Introduction of “Easy Steps to Chinese” series
 Misunderstanding of Chinese teaching and learning
 Teaching approaches
 Implementation of the Chinese curriculum
 Effective teaching strategies when using the series in
the classroom
 Hands-on practice

4. Overview of “Easy Steps to
Chinese” (books 1-8)
Beijing Language University Press （北京语言大学出版
社）
“Easy Steps to Chinese” 《轻松学中文》(books 1-8)
for secondary school students (can also be used for
primary school students)
“Easy Steps to Chinese for Kids” (books1-4) for
primary school students

5. Overview of “Easy Steps to
Chinese” (books 1-8)
 Easy Steps to Chinese 《轻松学中文》 series is
designed for total beginners (non-Chinese
background students), who wish to learn Chinese as
a foreign/second language.
 The series is composed of 8 coloured textbooks
(Books 1-8), each supplemented by a CD and a
workbook, except books 6-8 which are 2 in 1.
 Flashcards, word cards, posters (Books 1-3) and
teacher’s books are accompanied with this series.

6. Overview of “Easy Steps to
Chinese” (books 1-8)
 The emphasis is to develop communication skills in
using Chinese.
 The unique characteristics of this series is that the
programme allows the teacher to use a combination
of various effective teaching approaches (the
Communicative Approach and a task-based
approach), while taking into account the Chinese
language system

7. Overview of “Easy Steps to
Chinese” (books 1-8)
 Three stages: Stage 1: Books 1-2 foundation
Stage 2: Books 3-6 intermediate
Stage 3: Books 7-8 advanced
 Approximately 1600 Chinese characters in this series
Book 1: 175 plus 72 radicals
Books 2-5: about 250 for each book
plus 60 simple characters
Books 6-8: around 150 for each book

8. Overview of “Easy Steps to
Chinese” (books 1-8)
 It is suggested that P3 or above can start to use
Book 1.
 With 2 or 3 lessons (about 3 hours) a week, able and
motivated children might complete one book within
one academic year.
 As the eight books of this series are continuous and
ongoing, each book can be taught within any time
span.

9. Overview of “Easy Steps to
Chinese” (books 1-8)
 第六册 课文题目
1. 学校 9. 露营
2. 课程 10. 青年人
3. 学汉语 11. 压力
4. 去北京 12. 烦恼
5. 游学 13. 新科技
6. 过年 14. 健康
7. 义卖会 15. 环保
8. 挑战

10. Overview of “Easy Steps to
Chinese” (books 1-8)
 第七册 课文题目
1. 大学入学申请 9. 健康的饮食习惯
2. 学生会选举 10. “人间天堂”杭州
3. 申请暑期工 11. 健康的娱乐生活
4. 中国的家庭 12. 快餐文化
5. 李安的电影 13. 教育面临新挑战
6. 中西方文化的差异 14. 生活方式与现代疾病
7. 网络的利与弊 15. 保护环境，人人有责
8. 科技产品与生活

11. Overview of “Easy Steps to
Chinese” (books 1-8)
 第八册 课文题目
1. 毕业致词 9. 优越生活，弊大于利
2. 推迟入学 10. 孔子与中国传统文化
3. 难忘的高中生活 11. 中国教育制度的利弊
4. 西藏旅行指南 12. 中国文化对世界的影响
5. 不愉快的旅行 13. 如何应对全球化
6. 中国人的饮食习惯 14. 无国界脱贫会
7. 互联网时代 15. 做绿色的一代
8. 影视节目的影响

12. Overview of “Easy Steps to
Chinese” (books 1-8)
Genres covered in this series:
o 记叙文
o 正式书信：申请信、感谢信、抱怨信
o 非正式书信
o 日记、电邮
o 博客、通知、广告
o 辩论稿、报道、演讲
o 小册子、指南
o 读后感

13. Principles of designing this
series
 The textbook emphasizes the development of
listening and speaking skills and the workbook
provides support and materials for the development of
reading and writing skills
 Vocabulary, grammar and sentence structures useful
to the students’ daily life.
 Contemporary topics relevant to the age group, and
knowledge about Chinese culture are carefully
selected and introduced to the students.
 Simultaneous development of four language skills
 Extra words are added in some exercises for faster
learners.

14. Principles of designing this
series
 Grammar is introduced and reinforced throughout this
series.
 Task-based learning, such as authentic situation,
provides a platform for the students to use Chinese
functionally.
 Sufficient comprehensible input, such as various
types of exercises, reading materials, etc are carefully
designed and included.
 Small steps, regular reinforcement, brisk pace
 Repeated reinforcement of vocabulary in different
contexts
 Various kinds of exercises which are sufficient for use

15. Teaching approaches
 Human cognitive architecture - Daniel Willingham
2009: Why don’t students like school?
 Minimal guidance instruction, such as inquiry-based
approach, student-centred approach, etc.
 Second language acquisition
 Communicative approach
 Direct instructional approach

16. A book written by Willingham
2009
 The relationship between knowledge 知识 and
skills 技能
 Memorizing facts 记住事实 is very necessary.
（要记住字、词、句型）
 Fact knowledge much proceed skills
（在没有相关知识的情况下，老师要培养学生的技能
是不可能的。）

17. 认知过程 (Willingham 2009)
 Thinking occurs when you combine information (from
the environment and long-term memory) in new ways
环境(Environment)  工作记忆(Working Memory)
 
永久记忆(Long-term Memory)
o 知识贮藏在“永久记忆”的仓库里，所以平时不学知识，
到时候就没法思维。
o 从语言学习的角度来看，如果学生没有语言知识：词
语、句型、语法，学生是不可能用中文表达他们的观
点的。

18. 认知过程 (Willingham 2009)
 How thinking works?
o Working memory is the site of thinking
o Working memory has limited space, practice does
not change it
o By compressing the information, you get more space in
working memory
o People with more capacity are better thinkers
o This lack of space in working memory is a
fundamental bottleneck of human cognition

19. 认知过程 (Willingham 2009)
 Making the contents of working memory smaller
o Making facts take up less room through chunking,
which requires knowledge in long-term memory
（地 他 她 租 校 ……）
o Shrinking the process: getting things to become
automatized is through practice, therefore practice
enables further learning
（学生  中学生 汽车  公共汽车 ）
o If your knowledge is automatic, you have freed
working-memory space that used to be devoted to
retrieving – and space can now be devoted to thinking
about meaning.

20. 认知过程 (Willingham 2009)
 Are drills necessary? Effective?
o Drilling has been given a bad name: drill and kill
o Reasons for practice:
a) gain a minimum level of competence
b) improvement
o Students must practice to learn some facts and skills
they need at their fingertips, e.g. the timestable
o It is virtually impossible to become proficient at a
mental task without extended practice, e.g. a good
basketball player will not be someone who still works
on dribbling.
o Low-level processes must become automatic.

21. 认知过程 (Willingham 2009)
 Practice makes memory long lasting
o Studying hard and cramming knowledge do not protect
against forgetting and they DO NOT lead to long-lasting
memory
o The only way to protect against forgetting is to continue
to practice
o Practice means that you continue to work on something
that you have already mastered. Most people think that
it is boring, even though it brings cognitive benefits
o Spreading out your studying would be better for memory
than cramming（每天学20分钟的汉语）

22. 认知过程 (Willingham 2009)
 Practice improves transfer
o Practice makes it more likely that you will really
understand the problem in the first place and you will
remember it later
o Transfer is likely when the surface structure of the new
problem is similar to the surface structure of problems
seen before.
o Working lots of problems of a particular type makes it
more likely that you will recognize the underlying
structure of the new problem. （找出规律）
o If you DO NOT understand and remember the necessary
principle, there’s not much hope of it transferring to a
new situation.（不能学而致用）

23. 认知过程 (Willingham 2009)
 What should be practised?
o Retrieving number facts, letter, sounds from memory
o Students need to have at their fingertips basic facts
about elements
o Things remembered and ready to be retrieved are just
like the building blocks of skills that will provide the most
benefit if they are automatized

24. Minimal guidance instruction
 Discovery learning (发现学习)
 Problem-based learning ( 问题为本学习)
 Inquiry learning (探究学习)
 experiential learning (实验学习)
 Constructivist learning (建构学习)
 Co-operative learning ( 互助学习)
 Interactive learning ( 互动学习)

25. Second Language Acquisition
可懂输入
Comprehensible input
吸纳
Intake
输出
Output
互动
Interaction
Second Language Acquisition (simplified
version)
Gass, 1997

26. Second Language Acquisition
 Krashen (1982) “可懂输入” (i + 1)
 Swain (1985) “可懂输出”
There is a need for the learner to be “pushed
toward the delivery of a message that is not
only conveyed, but that is conveyed precisely,
coherently and appropriately”.

27. Communicative approach
 Learner-centered
 The importance of using the target language for
communication purposes
 The forms of communication should reflect real life
situations

28. Direct instructional approach
 Characteristics
- Teacher-centered, teacher-led
- Well-organized
- Whole class
- Clear presentation
- Explicit teaching
- Time efficient
- Effective

29. Direct instructional approach
 Characteristics
- Well-defined knowledge and skills
- High expectations for students’ progress
- Students’ attention and focus on tasks
- Maximum time spent by students on academic
tasks
- Feedback, monitoring the student’s progress

30. Direct instructional approach
4-step process
(Silver, Strong and Perini, 2007)
o Modeling - the skills is modeled by the teacher, who
thinks aloud while performing the skill
o Direct practice - the teacher uses questions to lead
through these steps and to help them see the
reasons behind the steps
o Guided practice - the students generate their own
leading questions while working through the steps.
The teacher observes, coaches, and provide
feedback
o Independent practice – finally, students work through
more examples on their own

31. Direct instructional approach
Specific methods used in the classroom:
o Rote learning
o Recitation
o Memorization
o Copying
o Dictation
o Regular tests and exams

32. Implementation of the Chinese
curriculum
Principles of successful classroom teaching:
 A variety of activities and teaching strategies
o teacher-centred activities (dictation, revision in class,
explanation, correction, etc.)
o student-centred activities (pair-work, group work,
presentation, revision at home, etc.)
 Encourage students to be autonomous learners
o encourage good study habits from day one
o appropriate expectations from the teacher
o set up good work routine (use of vocabulary book,
dictation, homework, etc.)

33. Implementation of the Chinese
curriculum
Principles of successful classroom teaching:
 Using basic teaching methods which are working
effectively in the classroom
 Using ICT to support teaching and learning, such as
projectors, on-line activities, etc.
 Ensure quality teaching, for example schemes of work,
peer observation and professional development

34. Implementation of the Chinese
curriculum
Principles of successful classroom teaching:
 Assessment for learning
- make students aware of learning aims, what they are
aiming for and the standard expected
- encourage students’ self-reflection
- provide constructive feedback
 Setting appropriate challenge
- plan for simple differentiation in listening, speaking,
reading and writing

35. Effective teaching strategies in
the classroom
 ESC Book 1 (beginners’ class)
- teach the phonetics (songs)
- teach the basic strokes
- how to write Chinese characters
- strokes and stroke order
- radicals and simple characters
- how to remember the characters
你 什么 明 帽 坐 棕 裤 鞋 美 黑 灰
- the teacher’s role
- expectations for the students

36. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 2 L3 Making phone calls 打电话（Text
1）
生词：在家 小明在家吗？在。（不在。）
谢谢 谢谢你（您）！
客 气 客气 不客气！
请问
先生 白先生 白先生在家吗？
位 哪一位 你是哪一位？
等 等一等 请等一等。
叫 我去叫他。

37. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 2 L3 Making Phone Calls 打电话 （Text
1）
课文：
1 A: 您好！小明在吗？ B: 他不在。
A: 谢谢您！ B: 不客气。
2 A: 白先生在家吗？ B: 在。请问，你是哪一位？
A: 我叫王东。 B: 请等一等，我去叫他。

38. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 2 L3 Making Phone Calls 打电话 （Text
2）
生词：
小姐 王小姐在吗？（王小姐在家吗？）
打 错 打错了 你打错电话了！
对 对不起！
关 系 没关系！
来 回来 她几点回来？
知 道 知道 不知道。
一会儿 等一会儿 再 打来
你等一会儿再打来。

39. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 2 L3 Making Phone Calls 打电话 （Text
2）
课文：
1 A: 请问，王小姐在吗？ B: 哪个王小姐？
A: 王小青。 B: 你打错电话了。
A: 对不起！ B: 没关系。
2 A: 请问，小文在家吗？ B: 对不起，他不
在家。
A: 她几点回来？ B: 不知道。你等一会
儿
再打来。
A: 好。谢谢！ 再见！

40. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 2 Lesson 4 Weather 天气 （Text 1）
生词：
1 ）晴 fine, clear 晴天 sunny day 今天是晴
天。
2 ）雨 rain 小雨 light rain 明天有小
雨。
3 ）台 platform 风 wind 台风 typhoon 今天有台
风。
4 ）云 cloud 多云 cloudy 今天多云
。
5 ）温 temperature 气温 air temperature
6 ）度 degree 二十度
7 ）到 up to 气温二十八到三十二度。
8 ）左 left 右 right 左右 around

41. Sample lessons
 Text 1
1）今天是晴天，气温在二十度左右。
明天有小雨。
2）今天多云，气温二十八到三十二度。
明天有台风。

42. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 2 Lesson 4 Weather 天气 （Text 2）
生词：
1 ）阴 overcast 阴天 overcast day 今天是阴天。
2 ）刮 blow 刮风 windy 今天刮大风。
3 ）雪 snow 下雪 明天下/有大雪。
4 ）天气 weather
5 ）怎么样 how 今天天气怎么样？ 今天多云。
6 ）零下 below zero 明天零下十度左右。

43. Sample lessons
 Text 2
A: 今天天气怎么样？
B: 阴天。
A: 明天天气怎么样？
B: 刮大风，下大雪。
A: 明天多少度？
B: 零下十度左右。

44. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 2 (beginners’ class)
第六课：生病 Text (1)
生词：
生病 发烧
咳嗽
头痛
带……看医生

45. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 2 (beginners’ class)
第六课：生病 Text (1)
课文：
我今天生病了，发烧、咳嗽，还头痛。我今天
没去上学，下午妈妈带我去看医生了。

46. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 2 (beginners’ class)
第六课：生病 Text (2)
不舒服 嗓子疼 要/ 不要 （不要去上学）
感冒 （你要在家休息两天）
想 （不想去上学）
在家休息两天
（工三年作）
（看两个小时书）

47. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 2 (beginners’ class)
第六课：生病 Text (2)
课文：
A：你哪儿不舒服？
B：我嗓子疼。
A：你发烧吗？
B：发烧，三十九度二。
A：你感冒了，今天不要去上学了。
B：我也不想去。
A：你要在家休息两天。
B：谢谢医生。

48. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 3 (beginners’ class)
第2课：生病 Text (1)
漂亮 帅 胖 瘦
瓜子脸 圆脸
有点儿 （一点儿）

49. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 3 (beginners’ class)
第2课：生病 Text (1)
课文：
1 ） 我姐姐长得很漂亮。她瓜子脸，圆圆的眼睛、
高高的鼻子和小小的嘴巴。她瘦瘦的，腿长长的。
2 ） 我哥哥长得又高又帅，但有点儿胖。他大眼睛、
高鼻子、大嘴巴。

50. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 3 (beginners’ class)
第2课：生病 Text (2)
生词：个子 报纸
直 着急
帮 找 不见
…… 的时候
是……的
别

51. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 3 (beginners’ class)
第2 课：生病 Text (2)
课文：
A：你弟弟长什么样？B：他个子不高，大概有1.3米。
他大眼睛，头发短短的，是直发。
A：他穿什么衣服？ B：他穿红汗衫和黑短裤。
A ：他是什么时候 B：我买报纸的时候。
不见的？
A ：你别着急。我们 B ： 谢谢！
帮你找。

52. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 3 (middle set)
第八课：学校设施
课本：（一）介绍学校的设施
方位词：左边、右边、前边、后边、
旁边、隔壁、对面、中间
（二）新同学找教室(口语练习）
练习册：P86 练习11：段落、字数要求、内容
发表观点、理由

53. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 3 (middle set)
第八课：学校设施
练习册：P86 练习11：段落、字数要求、内容
发表观点、理由
我今年九月开始上中学了。我们的中学不太大，学
校里有六幢教学楼、一个图书馆、一个礼堂、四个篮
球场、一个体育馆和一个游泳池。学校还有一个小卖
部，卖各种小吃、零食及午饭。我每天都会去那里买
糖果和午饭吃。我非常喜欢我的新学校。

54. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 3 (middle set)
第八课：学校设施 Text（1）
- 介绍 我来/介绍一下/ 我们学校。
- 楼 教学 教学楼
- 幢 我们学校有五幢教学楼。
- 图书馆 我们学校有一个图书馆。
- 礼堂 我们学校有一个礼堂。
- 场 操场 篮球场 足球场
我们学校有一个操场，一个篮球场，但是没有足球场
。
停车场 我们学校有一个停车场。
- 体育馆 我们学校有一个体育馆。
- 池 游泳池 我们学校有一个游泳池。

55. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 3 (middle set)
第八课：学校设施 Text（1）
课文：
我来介绍一下我们学校。我们学校叫南山英文
学校。学校有五幢教学楼、一个图书馆、一个礼
堂、一个操场、一个体育馆、一个体育场、两个
篮球场和一个足球场。学校还有一个餐厅、一个
游泳池和一个停车场。

56. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 3 (low set)
第十三课：社区 (text 2)
- 请问，去银行怎么走？
- 过马路
- 一直走 往/ 向前走 拐/转（往/向左拐/转）
- 先……然后…… 你先过马路，然后一直往前走。
- 第一 路口 在第一个路口往左拐
- 红绿灯 看到 你看到红绿灯往左拐
- 走五分钟 就到了 走五分钟就到了。
- 银行在你的右手边。

57. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 3 (low set)
第十三课：社区 (text 2)
（一） A：请问，咖啡馆在哪儿？
B：你先过马路，然后一直往前走，走五分钟就到了。
（二） A: 请问，去银行怎么？
B: 你一直往前走，看到红绿灯向左拐，再走五分钟
就到了。
（三） A：请问，附近有医院吗？
B：你在前边的第一个路口过马路，然后往右转。
医院就在你的右手边。

58. Sample lessons
 ESC Book 4 (set 2) Teach 第十二课 外出就餐
(The format of Book 4 and 5 is the same.)
- Get ready for the lesson
- revise related vocabulary
- learn new vocabulary
- listen to the text, answer questions
- read/explain through the text
- reading comprehension, model for essay
- extended reading for higher ability students
- paragraphing, give opinion, justify
试教：ESC Book 4 Lesson 12

59. Hands-on practice
Form a group of 2-3 teachers and plan one lesson
 Objective
 Teaching materials
Procedures: a) motivation
b) introduction
c) presentation of lesson
d) practice
 Classroom instruction
 Classroom management
 Assessment of students’ performance
 Homework

60. 介绍结束
欢迎提问