China calling

Autumn 2007

As one of the world’s largest and fastest growing economies, China’s prosperity is fuelling a renaissance of interest in the nation’s culture, history and language. Nicola More explores why this is big news for education...

On 16 August, the Taiwan Cabinet gathered to discuss its industrial technology strategy, and laid out an ambitious goal to increase the value of its ICT industry to NT$1 trillion. At the heart of this goal was a plan to capitalise on what ministers called ‘Chinese-language fever’. Taiwan hopes to gain a 50% share of the world’s Chinese-language digital learning market by 2012.

It is a highly lucrative market to break into. With 915 million speakers of the Mandarin dialect alone, Chinese is the most commonly spoken language in the world. And as China’s economy continues to show impressive growth – predicted at 10.4% this year – an increasing number of businesses are recognising the benefits of speaking the language. “In business terms, China, Japan and South Korea have grown into major players in the worldwide economy,” explains Ewan McIntosh, a Modern Foreign Languages Environment Development Officer with Learning and Teaching Scotland. “Where previously businesses in the UK were content to speak English, there’s now a realisation that China is a big market to sell to, and as such we must understand both Chinese and English. The Royal Society of Edinburgh recently held a Language Teaching and Learning in Scotland focus day, which explored the future of modern languages in Scotland. They stressed a need to introduce Chinese not in 10 years time, but now. We must act immediately
make an impact.”

Many schools are doing just that, with the help of innovative ICT solutions. Chinese language studies has been added to the curriculum of a number of primary schools in the UK, US, Japan and South Korea, with Scotland also having established the Scotland-China Education Network (SCEN) to promote educational links between Scottish and Chinese schools, develop a suite of qualifications in Chinese studies and encourage more educational institutions to offer Chinese courses. More than 2,500 universities across the world also offer programmes in Chinese study, fuelling a demand for one million teachers. It is estimated that by 2010 there will be 100 million people learning Chinese globally.

“Kids see Chinese as something exotic, something different to what they’re used to – and schools can capitalise on that,” explains Ewan. “In response to pupils’ enthusiasm, Scottish schools have developed a number of innovative approaches to teaching what is essentially a challenging and complex language. ICT has the potential to make languages more engaging, and teachers are experimenting with things like film-making weekends, weblogging, animation, radio show podcasting and many, many more. That creative element is beginning to filter through into mainstream education – bit by bit, we are seeing teachers take it on in their day-to-day teaching.”

Promoting opportunities

One teacher who is decidedly ahead of the game is Dr Judith McClure, head teacher of St George’s School in Edinburgh and Convenor of SCEN. St George’s has been teaching Chinese to its pupils for more than a decade. Starting off with classes at Access 3 and Intermediate 1 and 2 levels, Judith employed a teacher from China every year and opened a Chinese Centre. Classes were arranged according to demand, as part of the school’s independent learning programme. In 2005, St George’s decided it was time to move the curriculum a step forward. Introducing Chinese language classes at primary level, Judith also hired a permanent Chinese teacher, Melany-Lu Lin. “The decision was taken through our belief in the importance of an understanding of China and its leading political and economic roles in the 21st century,” says Judith. “We believed too that all our students should acquire basic skills of communication in Chinese and that they should have the opportunity to study it to university entrance level if they wished. We were encouraged by the public statements in support of Scottish links with China made by the First Minister and the Scottish Executive, and also by the support of the British Council Scotland.”

The result is a number of secondary pupils, both native and non-native Chinese speakers, studying at a variety of levels from Access 3 to Advanced Level. Primary pupils are also given the opportunity to study Chinese and to attend Chinese clubs. Although in the early stages of development, ICT is of great importance to the learning process. “We created most of the resources ourselves,” says Melany-Lu. “We put together Powerpoint presentations with animated pictures, which we found from clip art and online resources. The language tools in Microsoft also allowed us to input Chinese characters and pinyin (a system of romanisation for Mandarin pronunciation). I have created different folders for Chinese learning on our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). At A-level, the folders contain links to useful websites, including the BBC’s real Chinese programme, which allows learners to watch a slideshow and hear spoken Mandarin. Students studying for a GCSE can access a Chinese dictionary online and even listen to Chinese pop songs complete with lyrics. I have chosen some fun resources for our junior pupils, such as online colouring-in books and even a computer game which tests the pupils’ vocabulary. I started this project in October 2005, and hope to see it progress with the support of other teachers.”

Melany-Lu is now Head of Chinese at St George’s. In the new school year, the Chinese Department will house two permanent members of staff and a teacher from China, whilst the curriculum will extend further and an evening course for parents may be introduced. St George’s enjoys close links with China, including three Chinese partner schools and 20+ contacts from Hong Kong Schools Self-evaluation Network. A number of Chinese pupils have paid the school a visit, and a staff and student trip to Hong Kong is planned for May 2007.

Judith is an active voice in Scottish education, championing the cause of Chinese languages in a number of publications. She wrote eloquently in the Times Educational Supplement Scotland that: “Although Scotland is a small country, its history, values and culture together with its emphasis on education are proving attractive to Chinese institutions and businesses. It is important that we prepare sufficient numbers of our population to seize these advantages and only a radical approach to language teaching and learning in our schools can make this happen.”

Shaking off the dust

If a radical approach is what’s required, making effective use of the ICT available to schools is a wise starting point. Technology lends itself easily to modern languages, with resources such as podcasts providing an excellent medium for listening exercises. In fact, Mark Pentleton of Partners in Excellence (PiE), carried out a project which proved that it is possible to learn Chinese using new technologies alone. Through a combination of podcast audio resources, online information centres and a weblog providing feedback from native Chinese speakers, Mark was able to master the language. Evidence, if any were needed, of the potential of modern technology. The PiE Evaluation Report showed that schools utilising ICT through PiE projects have reported a significant increase in uptake of foreign languages, from 9% to 15% in Argyll & Bute, 8% to 16% in East Ayrshire and 12% to 17% in North Ayrshire. Perhaps more significantly, PiE’s modern approach was shown to have helped foreign languages shake off its “dusty, old-fashioned” image and attract descriptions such as “cutting edge”.

“The days of learning through text, of ‘repeat after me’, are long gone,” agrees Ewan. “A lot is being done to make teaching practices more relevant to the kids of today. The biggest challenge at the moment lies in funding, but we will overcome the hurdles. What better motivation is there than the enthusiasm shown by pupils every day?”