Teaching development grants final and financial report: Developing and implementing instructional games in Chinese language teacher training

In recent years, teaching and learning Chinese have become more and more popular all over the world. A report last year shows that over 100 million people are learning Chinese 1. However, second language acquisition is a long and tedious process and Chinese is recognized as one of the most difficult language to learn, which adds up students’ fear. With the rapid growth of the number of learners, the problems that there is a lack of high-level teachers and outdated teaching methods are stilled used (such as teacher-centered and lack of variety) in teaching Chinese as an international language (TCIL) are dramatically exposed.
HKIEd is an institution dedicated to nurture educators and promote the advancement of teaching and learning. In Dept. of Chinese Language Studies (CHL), there are four programs (MA, BEd, minor in TCIL, BA in TCIL) that offer Chinese teaching training to student teachers. The traditional Chinese teaching method is teacher-focused, cramming like duck-stuffing. It is dull and boring, and thus impossible to meet the needs of students.
Considering these problems, this project will conduct a game-based teaching method. Liking games is a common humanity, regardless of the nationality, age, gender, cultural background, and mother tongue of learners. This study will provide hands-on practice to student teachers about how to organize instructional games in class. Three important Chinese components are selected, namely, characters, vocabulary, and grammar. This project will select 15 teaching tasks in the three fields and design the teaching using the game-based method. This project intends to achieve six outcomes: (i) student teachers enhance the ability in using different language teaching methods, especially arrange suitable games in the classroom; (ii) student teachers are more confident in organizing classroom activities; (iii) student teachers can better control a class through organizing activities guided by the PI and Co-Is; (iv) student teachers feel less anxious in their teaching internship and real teaching at work; (v) student teachers can enhance the competence to use technologies in pedagogical designing and they can develop better digital learning resources for their students; (vi) students from year to year can learn from the recorded videos.
This project is theoretically and practically significant. Theoretically, it can improve the teaching methodology of TCIL and enrich the game-based approach in organizing classroom activities in TCIL. Practically, it can (i) improve teaching efficiency, (ii) help student teachers better accomplish teaching objectives, (iii) promote the professional development of student teachers, (iv) stimulate students’ learning motivation and interest, and (v) establish a good relationship between teachers and students.