Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Language s (TCSOL) Standards ——An Introduction

1. Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages(TCSOL) Standards——An Introduction Lening Liu Columbia University Symposium on Asia Columbia University In the Curriculum Sept.28, 2007

2. 1. Background A. Shortage of quality instructors B. Establishment of new departments or programs in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language or Foreign Language C. The lack of guidelines for curriculum designing and degree requirements D. The lack of high quality tests on teachers’ linguistic and pedagogical abilities. E. The lack of standards that are compatible with the instruction of other languages

3. 2. Organizers and Writers • Organizer: The Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban) B. Writing team: headed by Prof. Jun Liu (University of Arizona). Members are from Peking University, Renmin University, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing International Studies University and Columbia University.

4. 3. Process Step 1: An outline was drafted by Prof. Jun Liu Step 2: A small group of scholars were invited to comment on the outline Step 3: The outline was revised Step 4: Members of writing team were appointed Step 5: Each member was assigned to writing a chapter

5. Step 6: All chapters were put together by Prof. Jun Liu Step 7: Consulting experts inside and outside China (Beijing and New York) Step 8: Inviting more scholars to revise the text Step 9: Presenting the text to an approval committee Step 10: Further revision

6. 4. Structure and Content A. modules Module 1 Language knowledge and skills Module 2 Second language acquisition and strategies of foreign language learning Module 3 Methods and approaches of Chinese Instruction Module 5 Professionalism Module 4 Chinese culture and cross-cultural communication

7. B. Standards: within each module there are a number of standards. For instance: Methods and approaches of teaching Chinese to speakers of other languages: • Standard one: teaching approaches, methods and techniques • Standard two: testing, assessment and evaluation • Standard three: curriculum development syllabus design, classroom instruction, teaching book selections and materials supplement

8. C. sub-standards: under each standard there a number of sub-standards: For instance, under testing, assessment and evaluation • concepts and principles of testing, assessmentand evaluation • types of testing • process and method of designing tests …

9. D. Content of sub-standard: under each sub- standard there are three items: • basic concepts (testing, assessment and evaluation; fact judgment, value judgment, etc.) • basic principles (teachers should master different kinds of assessment methods; teachers should adjust their teaching methods based on the outcome of evaluation, etc.) • skills (teachers should be able to use appropriate methods of assessment; they should be able to tell the advantage and disadvantage of different assessment methods, etc.)

10. TCSOL module module module module module standards standards standards standards standards Sub-standards Sub-standards Sub-standards Sub-standards Sub-standards concepts principles skills concepts principles skills concepts principles skills concepts principles skills concepts principles skills

11. 5. What’s Next a. designing exams based on these standards b. designing curriculum based on these standards c. setting up degree requirement base on these standards d. setting up criteria for teaching certificate

12. 6. Conclusion TCSOL is a comprehensive set of standards. It may serve as guidelines for Chinese teachers’ education and training, particularly for curriculum designing and degree or certificate requirements. It, however, is very general. For applicants with different background, the recommendations proposed by the Ad Hoc joint committee are much more helpful.