Chinese language, the first language spoken and used by the largest population in the world, has witnessed a significant global increase. Chinese as a Second Language (CSL) has thus received unprecedented attention, and teaching and learning of CSL have transcended the national boundary. This book reports a case study of training teachers of CSL in Australia with a significant implication to the western English-speaking countries such as Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA. The book is unique in several ways. On a theoretical level, the book analyses knowledge-based and competence-based teacher education, provides an in-depth examination of post-method pedagogy and deconstructs traditional aspects of second language teacher education, making a case for the new concept of "three dimensions". On a practical level, the Australian-based case study employs qualitative methods to gather the feedback from teacher educators, teacher trainees and students who are undergoing CSL training, and further reports on studies on CSL teaching practicum in local schools and abroad. Training Teachers of Chinese in Australia is a book for established scholars, researchers, educators, and research higher degree students who are interested in teacher education, second and foreign language education and Chinese as a second language (CSL).

Chinese language, the first language spoken and used by the largest population in the world, has witnessed a significant global increase. Chinese as a Second Language (CSL) has thus received unprecedented attention, and teaching and learning of CSL have transcended the national boundary. This book reports a case study of training teachers of CSL in Australia with a significant implication to the western English-speaking countries such as Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA. The book is unique in several ways. On a theoretical level, the book analyses knowledge-based and competence-based teacher education, provides an in-depth examination of post-method pedagogy and deconstructs traditional aspects of second language teacher education, making a case for the new concept of "three dimensions". On a practical level, the Australian-based case study employs qualitative methods to gather the feedback from teacher educators, teacher trainees and students who are undergoing CSL training, and further reports on studies on CSL teaching practicum in local schools and abroad. Training Teachers of Chinese in Australia is a book for established scholars, researchers, educators, and research higher degree students who are interested in teacher education, second and foreign language education and Chinese as a second language (CSL).

Teachers of Chinese as a foreign language in many international contexts are searching for pedagogic solutions to promote effective learning. Models of innovative and successful approaches are urgently needed. This volume presents a collection of compelling and empirically rich research studies that showcases innovative developments in the practice of teaching Chinese as a foreign language. The studies focus on three interrelated areas: learners, teachers, and applications of new technologies. Specifically, the studies explore methods for fostering learner-centred classrooms, autonomous learners, intercultural learning, the role of teacher views and identities, the nature of a ‘middle ground’ approach, and technologies that accommodate the unique aspects of the Chinese language, with new options for mobile and interactive learners. Providing both inspiration and practical models for language practitioners and researchers, it offers a vital resource for teachers’ professional development, and for pre-service teacher education.

This book takes a fresh look at 'professional experience' in initial teacher education in Australia. Using collaborative narrative methodologies, the authors critically explore the ways in which one faculty of education engages with schools, industry, the teaching profession and government policy to deliver an innovative professional experience program. It includes chapters offering new perspectives on more traditional practicums in schools, as well as those reporting on exciting partnership initiatives where pre-service teachers, teacher educators and practitioners work together to teach and learn in new and mutually beneficial ways. There is a particular focus on the professional learning of all stakeholders from across the professional experience program. The book allows readers to gain a new understanding of the experiences and learning opportunities available to all stakeholders when a professional experience program makes a priority of boundary work, relational work and identity work. With the critical and creative power of narrative to convey what other research methodologies cannot, it shows how one institution has developed a variety of innovative approaches and structures in response to on-going debates on quality in teacher education, the role of educational partnerships in teacher preparation and the personal and professional insights gained from such opportunities.

This book brings together new theoretical perspectives and bilingual education models from different sociopolitical and cultural contexts across the globe in order to address the importance of sociocultural, educational and linguistic environments that create, enhance or limit the ways in which diasporic children and young people acquire the ‘Chinese’ language. The chapters present a variety of research-based studies on Chinese heritage language education and bilingual education drawing on detailed investigations of formal and informal educational input including language socialization in families, community heritage language schools and government sponsored educational institutions. Exploring the many pathways of learning ‘Chinese’ and being ‘Chinese’, this volume also examines the complex nature of language acquisition and development, involving language attitudes and ideologies as well as linguistic practices and identity formation. Learning Chinese in Diasporic Communities is intended for researchers, teacher-educators, students and practitioners in the fields of Chinese language education and bilingual education and more broadly those concerned with language policy studies and sociolinguistics.

Inspired by the author’s observations of the language curriculum as a practising teacher for the past 20 years, this book addresses how the high school Chinese language and literacy (Yuwen) curriculum in China was controlled and directed in the post-Mao era. Examining the social and political domination from 1980 to 2010, the book offers insights into how teachers and schools responded to the top-down curriculum change in their teaching practice. This book discusses some of the most important questions concerning China and its education system: What changes have occurred in the Chinese language and literacy curricula; how and why the changes have occurred; who has been in control of the process and outcome; and what impacts the curriculum changes may bring not only to China but to the international sectors that "export" education and degrees to China and Chinese students. The author provides answers to these questions crucial to both the contemporary Chinese society and the students who come out of that system. This critical inquiry of the Yuwen curriculum and its implementation provides a valuable and timely showcase for understanding the ideology of China's future generation and the social and political transformation in the past three decades. In addition to researchers, this book is expected to have impact on policymakers in China and beyond, where Chinese migrants and international students constitute a substantial learning population.

This book presents the principles of quality teaching in Chinese, as exemplified in case studies of primary and secondary school classrooms. Drawing on data from five Australian schools, the authors identify the key practices necessary to produce a quality learning experience for students. The book offers a thorough grounding in the issues involved in teaching different age groups, and many practical strategies, including a comprehensive overview of digital technologies for teaching and learning Chinese. It will provide a valuable resource for students and scholars of applied linguistics, in addition to supporting teacher training and professional development.