CLEC Project Boosts Chinese Language and Culture Education in NZ Schools
by Yan Yang, Facilitator, Tui Tuia | Learning Circle
In 2022, Tui Tuia | Learning Circle strengthened its partnership with the CLEC (Center for Language Education and Cooperation) under the Chinese Ministry of Education, and implemented a range of successful programs to promote Chinese language and culture education in Aotearoa New Zealand. According to reports, 16 schools have received Chinese Language Programme Support Grants. The funding had a huge positive impact on Chinese language learning in schools, with many schools reporting an increase in the number of students studying Chinese in 2023.
Photo (above): Teachers and Tui Tuia | Learning Circle staff at the Celebrate Moon Festival Workshop
In Auckland and Wellington, we organized the Chinese + programme for 24 schools, which included a total of 40 workshops covering various Chinese cultural topics such as Kung Fu, dumpling making, calligraphy, Chinese painting, paper cutting, dancing, lion dance, and folk music. These workshops were highly popular in schools, and we have already received numerous requests from schools for workshops in 2023. Moreover, we also held two full-day workshops for teachers to celebrate Chinese New Year and the Moon Festival. The teachers who attended these workshops provided very positive feedback, indicating the effectiveness of the workshops in improving their teaching of Chinese culture and language.
Meanwhile, we conducted a research project on Chinese curriculum integration. We are partnering with Glendowie College to use the CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) approach and investigated integrating Chinese language and drama. This initiative yielded positive results, as students in the experimental group showed higher motivation and achieved higher than average speaking scores in Chinese than those in the control group. We are also working with Dr Danping Wang from the University of Auckland to write a literature review on the links between Te Ao Maori and Chinese language and culture, which has the potential to uncover valuable insights.
Photo (above): (left and middle): Teachers taking part in a Celebrate Chinese New Year Workshop (right): Stephanie Mortimore, Programme Manager, Tui Tuia | Learning Circle
Furthermore, the 4th Oceania Chinese Teachers’ Conference was highly successful, with over 150 teachers and academics from around the world joining the two day online conference in April 2022. The conference featured one keynote speaker and 23 workshops covering various topics from teaching practice to teaching pedagogy. Stephanie Mortimore, Programme Manager of the Tui Tuia | Learning Circle Languages team, also attended the International Chinese Education Conference held by CLEC and presented at the Forum on Innovative Development of Chinese Education, introducing New Zealand's language education landscape to more than 300 conference participants from various countries.
Overall, the CLEC project has been instrumental in promoting Chinese language and culture education in Aotearoa New Zealand, with various initiatives and programs showing positive results. With continued efforts and support, the project aims to enhance the teaching and learning of Chinese language and culture in New Zealand's schools and communities. In 2023, we will continue to advance the CLEC project, and we look forward to further collaboration with schools, educators, and experts in the field.
Photos: (above) Students participate in a Kungfu Workshop and (below) Students taking part in a Chinese Painting Workshop
Teaching Chinese through Interactive Mystery Game
by Yu Feng, Wellington College
Have you ever imagined solving a mystery crime in a Chinese classroom? Finding a killer seems to be a thousand miles away from learning a language. As a language teacher, we have tried dozens of games to stimulate students’ interest, to encourage their engagement, to help them grasp vocabulary, sentence structures and grammar, and most importantly, to create opportunities for them to communicate. Never before has it occurred to me a board role play game can achieve all these.
On 25 February, thanks to Tui Tuia | Learning Circle and Dr Dai, we had a chance to explore and experience a board role play game, created by Miriam Bai, a young Chinese teacher from Wellington High School. To be honest, I had some doubts about this unusual idea. When Dr. Dai sent me the agenda of the day, I couldn’t believe this game would start from 9:00am and finish at 2:00pm
With so many questions to be answered, as one of the 11 participants including six people playing online, I started my journey of the day with a bit of anxiety. To my total surprise, the game turned out to be so fun and exciting. Miriam spent hours and hours writing the script for this play. I was totally blown away when I read the script written specifically for each individual player using the words only from NCEA level 1 to 3 vocabulary lists. The story was so cleverly plotted that no one in the room and online could guess the end. Time flew and before we realised it was already 2:30 pm.
The heated debating, the intense discussion made us realise that social interaction and problem solving in this game can definitely improve students’ language use and fluency. It is such a valuable tool for language teachers to try out in their classroom.
Photo(above) Left to right, at table: Yu Feng (Wellington College), Xinhua Wang, Jing Du (Wellington Chinese Language School), Lin Ma (Newlands College), Angela (Scots College), Miriam, On screen (top, left): more teachers taking part online in the workshop.
Chinese New Year, Lantern Festival
by Fiona Yen, Facilitator, Tui Tuia | Learning Circle
Chinese New Year is also known as the Lunar New Year and it's a special festival that happens every year for 15 days in China and in Chinese communities all around the world. The festival starts when the new moon happens between January 21st and February 20th, and ends with the full moon. One of the most exciting days of the festival is the Lantern Festival, where people light lanterns to bring hope to the new year and symbolize driving out darkness.
During the festival, people decorate their houses with colourful lanterns, some with riddles on them. If you solve the riddle, you can earn a small gift! The festival also includes lion and dragon dances, parades, and fireworks. One of the most delicious treats enjoyed during the festival are small glutinous rice balls called yuan xiao or tangyuan, filled with fruits and nuts. The round shape of the balls symbolizes wholeness and unity within the family.
It's a vibrant and exciting time of year that celebrates hope, unity, and good luck. Have you ever celebrated the Chinese New Year or the Lantern Festival?
Watch the video below to discover how to make a paper lantern! You can share this activity with your students and even create some fun riddles for them to solve during class. It's a great way to encourage creativity and engage your students in a hands-on activity.
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2023 - Chinese - Term 1 Newsletter Articles
CLEC Project Boosts Chinese Language and Culture Education in NZ Schools
by Yan Yang, Facilitator, Tui Tuia | Learning Circle
In 2022, Tui Tuia | Learning Circle strengthened its partnership with the CLEC (Center for Language Education and Cooperation) under the Chinese Ministry of Education, and implemented a range of successful programs to promote Chinese language and culture education in Aotearoa New Zealand. According to reports, 16 schools have received Chinese Language Programme Support Grants. The funding had a huge positive impact on Chinese language learning in schools, with many schools reporting an increase in the number of students studying Chinese in 2023.
Photo (above): Teachers and Tui Tuia | Learning Circle staff at the Celebrate Moon Festival Workshop
In Auckland and Wellington, we organized the Chinese + programme for 24 schools, which included a total of 40 workshops covering various Chinese cultural topics such as Kung Fu, dumpling making, calligraphy, Chinese painting, paper cutting, dancing, lion dance, and folk music. These workshops were highly popular in schools, and we have already received numerous requests from schools for workshops in 2023. Moreover, we also held two full-day workshops for teachers to celebrate Chinese New Year and the Moon Festival. The teachers who attended these workshops provided very positive feedback, indicating the effectiveness of the workshops in improving their teaching of Chinese culture and language.
Meanwhile, we conducted a research project on Chinese curriculum integration. We are partnering with Glendowie College to use the CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) approach and investigated integrating Chinese language and drama. This initiative yielded positive results, as students in the experimental group showed higher motivation and achieved higher than average speaking scores in Chinese than those in the control group. We are also working with Dr Danping Wang from the University of Auckland to write a literature review on the links between Te Ao Maori and Chinese language and culture, which has the potential to uncover valuable insights.
Photo (above): (left and middle): Teachers taking part in a Celebrate Chinese New Year Workshop (right): Stephanie Mortimore, Programme Manager, Tui Tuia | Learning Circle
Furthermore, the 4th Oceania Chinese Teachers’ Conference was highly successful, with over 150 teachers and academics from around the world joining the two day online conference in April 2022. The conference featured one keynote speaker and 23 workshops covering various topics from teaching practice to teaching pedagogy. Stephanie Mortimore, Programme Manager of the Tui Tuia | Learning Circle Languages team, also attended the International Chinese Education Conference held by CLEC and presented at the Forum on Innovative Development of Chinese Education, introducing New Zealand's language education landscape to more than 300 conference participants from various countries.
Overall, the CLEC project has been instrumental in promoting Chinese language and culture education in Aotearoa New Zealand, with various initiatives and programs showing positive results. With continued efforts and support, the project aims to enhance the teaching and learning of Chinese language and culture in New Zealand's schools and communities. In 2023, we will continue to advance the CLEC project, and we look forward to further collaboration with schools, educators, and experts in the field.
Photos: (above) Students participate in a Kungfu Workshop and (below) Students taking part in a Chinese Painting Workshop
Teaching Chinese through Interactive Mystery Game
by Yu Feng, Wellington College
Have you ever imagined solving a mystery crime in a Chinese classroom? Finding a killer seems to be a thousand miles away from learning a language. As a language teacher, we have tried dozens of games to stimulate students’ interest, to encourage their engagement, to help them grasp vocabulary, sentence structures and grammar, and most importantly, to create opportunities for them to communicate. Never before has it occurred to me a board role play game can achieve all these.
On 25 February, thanks to Tui Tuia | Learning Circle and Dr Dai, we had a chance to explore and experience a board role play game, created by Miriam Bai, a young Chinese teacher from Wellington High School. To be honest, I had some doubts about this unusual idea. When Dr. Dai sent me the agenda of the day, I couldn’t believe this game would start from 9:00am and finish at 2:00pm
With so many questions to be answered, as one of the 11 participants including six people playing online, I started my journey of the day with a bit of anxiety. To my total surprise, the game turned out to be so fun and exciting. Miriam spent hours and hours writing the script for this play. I was totally blown away when I read the script written specifically for each individual player using the words only from NCEA level 1 to 3 vocabulary lists. The story was so cleverly plotted that no one in the room and online could guess the end. Time flew and before we realised it was already 2:30 pm.
The heated debating, the intense discussion made us realise that social interaction and problem solving in this game can definitely improve students’ language use and fluency. It is such a valuable tool for language teachers to try out in their classroom.
Photo(above) Left to right, at table: Yu Feng (Wellington College), Xinhua Wang, Jing Du (Wellington Chinese Language School), Lin Ma (Newlands College), Angela (Scots College), Miriam, On screen (top, left): more teachers taking part online in the workshop.
Chinese New Year, Lantern Festival
by Fiona Yen, Facilitator, Tui Tuia | Learning Circle
Chinese New Year is also known as the Lunar New Year and it's a special festival that happens every year for 15 days in China and in Chinese communities all around the world. The festival starts when the new moon happens between January 21st and February 20th, and ends with the full moon. One of the most exciting days of the festival is the Lantern Festival, where people light lanterns to bring hope to the new year and symbolize driving out darkness.
During the festival, people decorate their houses with colourful lanterns, some with riddles on them. If you solve the riddle, you can earn a small gift! The festival also includes lion and dragon dances, parades, and fireworks. One of the most delicious treats enjoyed during the festival are small glutinous rice balls called yuan xiao or tangyuan, filled with fruits and nuts. The round shape of the balls symbolizes wholeness and unity within the family.
It's a vibrant and exciting time of year that celebrates hope, unity, and good luck. Have you ever celebrated the Chinese New Year or the Lantern Festival?
Watch the video below to discover how to make a paper lantern! You can share this activity with your students and even create some fun riddles for them to solve during class. It's a great way to encourage creativity and engage your students in a hands-on activity.
