NCI holds successful training day for local Mandarin teachers

10/7/2017 

On 9 July, Nottingham Confucius Institute organised and ran an intensive training programme for over 20 Mandarin teachers from local primary and secondary schools in Nottingham. The event aimed to provide a career development opportunity for local teachers to learn about some of the latest development in Chinese language teaching and a forum to discuss current issues and ideas. 

The day began with talks from three keynote speakers: Dr Xin Gao, Course Leader for the MA Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (TCSOL), School of Education, University of Nottingham on “Understanding L2 learners of Chinese in the UK - L2 motivation and others”; Dr Lingling Mao, Subject Leader for Mandarin Chinese of the School of Arts & Humanities, Nottingham Trent University on “How to teach Chinese characters”; and HE Yuan, National 1^st Class Performer from Sichuan Symphony Orchestra on “The power of music in teaching Chinese language and culture”. 

Following the talks, a round table discussion took place, led by Dr Xuezhong Sun, headmaster of the Nottingham Chinese School. All three invited speakers joined in exchanging ideas on all kinds of practical questions put forward by the attendees, ranging from how to motivate pupils in the UK to learn Mandarin, how to balance fun activities and exam results-driven learning, to how to deal with difficult student behaviour. 

Feedback from all participants was extremely positive. “The benefit of the training has been all round- the L2 Motivation theory is inspiring, the methodology for teaching Chinese characters is useful, and tips on how to speak and sing and use music to teach Mandarin are fantastic ,” said one of the teachers. “The training day has met my expectation and more. I would certainly like to attend more training events like this” commented another.  

“It was great to see all attendees very much engaged in the talks and discussions. They have clearly encountered difficulties in their daily teaching jobs. This event has successfully offered them the opportunity to find some answers and be inspired by experts and colleagues in the same field,” commented Dr Jinrong Meng, Co-director of NCI. 

Nottingham Confucius Institute was established in 2007. It is committed to promoting Chinese language and teaching. More teacher conferences and training opportunities are being planned for the near future. 

      为提高诺丁汉中小学汉语教学质量，增强汉语教师的业务素质，加强对青年教师的培养，并且促进诺丁汉地区汉语教学的友好交流与良性发展，诺丁汉大学孔子学院于当地时间7月10日对诺丁汉中小学汉语教师进行了一次专题培训。本次活动有幸邀请到了高欣、毛玲玲以及何媛三位教育翘楚、业界精英，她们分别就自己的学术背景和研究兴趣为参会的教师们带来了一场场精彩绝伦又让人受益匪浅的讲说。

     培训开始，诺丁汉大学孔子学院执行院长孟院长首先致辞，感谢所有到会的汉语教师，也感谢所有为汉语教师提供培训的教授专家们。

     首先是诺丁汉大学汉语国际教育硕士专业的学科领头人高欣博士，以第二语言学习者的学习动机为切入点，剖析了在英汉语学习者的学习动机，并且学以致用讲解了促进汉语学习者学习动机的策略，最终落脚于如何更好地增强诺丁汉汉语学习者的学习动机，促进诺丁汉汉语教学的发展。高欣博士扎实的学术背景和丰富的例证，无不给人留下深刻的印象。

    来自诺丁汉特伦特大学的毛玲玲博士，从事汉语教学多年，是所在大学的中文学科负责人。以“对外汉语中的汉字教学”为题，毛玲玲博士带领着大家认识到了汉字教学的重要性及必要性，并且厘清了汉字教学的理论演变。结合着具体的教学，毛玲玲博士也指出了常见的汉字教学误区，进而提出了正确的汉字教学方式。汉字教学是汉语教学中很重要也是很困难的一部分，但是在毛玲玲博士的讲述下，汉字也变得可爱了起来。

     本次培训还有幸邀请到了中国四川交响乐团青年女高音歌唱家、国家一级演员何媛女士，为与会的各位汉语教师带来了精彩的演说。科学的发声方法能保持嗓音青春永驻，作为需要每日用嗓的汉语教师，如果学会了正确的发声方法，不仅能够保护嗓子、珍重身体，还能够科学省力地讲课，更好地服务于汉语教学。何媛女士贴近教学实际，又生动有趣的演讲得到了大家的热烈追捧，教师们纷纷跟着她学习更科学的发声方法。

     最后在诺丁汉中文学校孙校长的主持下，与会的所有汉语教师进行了一场深入有趣的“圆桌讨论”。或提出教学困惑，或例举教学实例，或提供教学建议，每个人都积极参与其中，投身于汉语教学一线的各位教师在分享自己教学经验的同时，也从其他教师的实践中汲取了日后可用的宝贵经验。在会后的反馈表中，大家都对此次培训的评价极高，“The benefit of the training has been all round- the L2 Motivation theory is inspiring, the methodology for teaching Chinese characters is useful, and tips on how to speak and sing and use music to teach Mandarin are fantastic”; “The training day has met my expectation and more. I would certainly like to attend more training events like this”.