Local and Overseas Field Experience for Master of Arts in Teaching Chinese as an International Language

Field Experience (FE) in the Master of Arts in Teaching Chinese as an International Language (MATCIL) curriculum enables students to experience different school environments and develop a holistic understanding of the learning and teaching of Chinese as an international language.

In 2018/19, 62 MATCIL students took FE. 12 of them opted to have their practicum in Hong Kong, whereas the remaining 50 were sent to overseas or mainland China to have their teaching practice. The programme has collaborated with overseas FE partner schools in the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States in 2018/19 academic year. Here are some students’ sharing:

“The learning environment of The University of Auckland enabled students proactively participating in our class activities. The learning attitude and performance of the students also helped to keep lessons in control. Moreover, all instructors are nice and helpful, providing timely evaluations and suggestions for our teaching preparation. After this field experience, we have learned how to think from others’ perspectives as well as applying different teaching strategies in various cultural backgrounds.” (He Yan and Wang Qian [FE school: The University of Auckland, New Zealand])

“I have much benefited from the field experience in Palacký University Olomouc. In order to prepare for the one-on-one Chinese oral sessions with 14 undergraduate and postgraduate students, I have consulted my instructor for the lesson planning. I learnt how to prepare sufficient Q&A exercises and provide guidance to students in accordance with their aptitude. Meanwhile, I always do self-reflection so as to enhance my presentation skills, eg using simple words to explain vocabularies which help foreign students to learn Chinese words more efficiently.” (Ye Yongyan [FE school: Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic])

“During our stay in The University of Worcester, we were responsible for teaching Chinese to students and staff in lunch and evening sessions. We have also organised several Chinese New Year activities to promote Chinese culture. We appreciated the University gave room for the curriculum design. Moreover, learning different teaching skills through classroom observations helped us have a better preparation in future lessons planning.” (Ngan Sin Yi and Cen Yanshan [FE school: The University of Worcester, United Kingdom])

He Yan and Wang Qian were meeting with other Chinese Language teachers in the lesson preparation presentation.

 

Ye Yongyan was meeting with a student in the one-on-one Chinese oral session.

Ngan Sin Yi and Cen Yanshan organised Chinese New Year event for students and staff in the University.