My Journey to Success: Sharing from a BA(TCSL) Student

Ms Wang Xuefei, Year 4 student from the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language programme in 2021/22

Being a student of the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, BA(TCSL) programme has been an important turning point in my life. The most notable feature of this programme is that it not only teaches students the most advanced L2 teaching methods in the world, but also provides students with various forms of practical activities. Students could plan for their future and find their career direction based on the knowledge and teaching experience acquired from the programme.

There are two practical components in the Field Experience in the first and second year of the BA(TCSL) programme, namely ‘Observing Chinese Classes in Local International Schools’ and ‘Field Experience in Beijing Language and Culture University’. Despite the impact of the COVID-19, the programme still offered the activities via online mode. I gained a lot from these events. During the ‘Observing Chinese Classes in Local International Schools’ activity, it was the first time for me to learn about the arrangement and teaching mode of Chinese courses in top international primary schools in Hong Kong. The Chinese teachers’ enthusiasm and the unique classroom management style for teaching foreign students inspired me how to interact with young L2 students in classes to obtain the best learning outcomes. During the one-month Field Experience at Beijing Language and Culture University, with the help of my experienced tutor, my teaching ability has made a breakthrough and I developed a life-long friendship with my foreign adult students. Through these meaningful events, I learned how to flexibly adopt different teaching methods and topics when facing L2 learners of different ages. I can also skillfully use online teaching mode to overcome the challenge of the pandemic. In addition, I have joined a summer internship to serve as a Chinese teacher in a public primary school on mainland China. I innovatively applied the ‘Task-based Teaching Method’, one of the L2 teaching methods that I had learned in the BA(TCSL) programme, to the traditional Chinese mother tongue classroom. This has been highly praised by my colleagues and students. What’s more, I got a sense of achievement from teaching, which made me realize my eagerness to become a professional teacher.

Even though the BA(TCSL) programme is a BA degree, its training will prepare students to pursue further studies in PGDE programmes to become globally qualified L2 teachers through more systematic teacher training in the future. With considerable effort, I have now successfully received an admission offer to the PGDE(P) programme to further pursue my dream.

My article published in Hong Kong Wenlu magazine

Internship in a public primary school on mainland China