Teaching and Research

To catch up a rapid development in today’s information age, KKCS has been carrying out a series of education reforms in both teaching and research since Fall, 2008. We adopted new educational theory, held monthly professional training, and initiated a number of innovative Chinese language and cultural classes. We also pioneered to organize our students to participate in “Youth Chinese Test” (YCT) authorized by the Official Chinese Language Council International in Beijing. Here we would like to present some papers written by our teachers to share their teaching experiences.

Reap What You Sow: My Experience with YCT

By Yiqing Wei

On May 8th, 2010, for the first time, KKCS organized 27 students to participate at the YCT (Young Learners Chinese Test). The test took place in our computer lab. It was well organized and the students finished the listening comprehension and reading tests smoothly. According to primilitary evaluation, the passing rate reached 100%. The USA "World Journal" reported this event with the title "Kwong Kow Chinese School at Boston, USA held the Young Learners Chinese Test for the first time;" other media such as "ChinaNews.com" reprinted the report, too. This test fully showed the success of KKCS in teaching Chinese, and enhanced the fame of the school in Chinese education.

YCT is designed by the Chinese Hanban, for non-Chinese-native speaking young children. It aims at testing  the basic vocabulary, as well as the ability in applying the language to real life situation. It meets the need of kids from different countries and backgrounds. YCT has four levels, and the test is held periodically in China and oversea.

Our success in the YCT this time is mainly due to two reasons:

1. School leaders paid special attention so that we had a clear goal.

From 2009, when Chinese Hanban first organized the YCT, the leaders in our school promptly realized that it is the test with national authority. The test is reasonably and prudently designed. It can greatly enhance the confidence and sense of honor of the young Chinese learners whose native language is not Chinese. It would promote their enthusiasm to learn Chinese. Successfully holding YCT would not only be an effective way to promote Chinese culture, but also show the teaching success of our school, enhancing the impact and effectiveness of the school, so that KKCS would enter a whole new era. Our principal, Yanyu Zhou, paid special attetion to the YCT program. She said we had to hold the test successfully, and our goal was to make our school the local exam spot for the great Boston area. She participated in the research of the program, choosing test guideline and reveiw materials, designing teaching plan and so on. She guided and led the teachers, parents and student to prepare for the test. This was the basic for the success of the program.

2. Good organization and effective teaching metholds guaranteed the success.

1) Focus on the main points -- enhance students' studying interest

The school leaders and teachers collected all kinds of information about the test, designed review materials, test simulation, focusing on the main points. Students and parents had good feedbacks to our teaching methods and review materials. It lets the students like studying and want to study actively. Another thing is that we use different teaching methods to different students. During the teaching, the teachers paid more attention to the students with weaker background, especially those with difficulty in listening comprehension. We spent more time and energy on them, gave them more praises and encouragement, enhanced their confidence and interests. The number of students in the review course increased from 13 at the beginning to 27 at the end.

2) Focus on the most difficult points -- listening comprehension and reading ability

Using multi-media teaching method, including computers and internet, we focused on training the students in listensing comprehension and reading ability, so that we could help them to raise their ability in using the language greatly.

3) Focus on the effectiveness

A. The teachers reviewed the test with the students according to the topics, so that the students would have a sense of the type of problems and the difficulty level of the test. The students would then be well prepared when they faced the test.

B. The teachers had tried to help the students to review the test materials systematically and comprehensively, so that the students would have a deeper understanding of each character and phrase. We helped them to raise their ability in applying the grammer.

C. We held numerous simulation tests before the real test, training the students with standard answer sheets. This helped to correct some bad habits of the students in completing the answer sheets, raised their skill with the test, enhanced the accuracy, and gave them more confidence in the test.

This YCT program was a big success. We can not achieve it without the support of school leaders and the effort of the teachers. You reap what you sow. It is a good starting. We still need the effort of all the teachers and students in school to continue exploring, summarizing, perfecting the program. We need to attract more parents and students to participate to the YCT, with our high quality teaching. Let's look forward to an even bigger success next year.

Brief Experience on Parent-child Interaction in Chinese Teaching Activities

By Fei Wang

With the rising status of China in the world pattern, Chinese is playing a more and more important role in the cultural messenging, and learning Chinese reaches a new high. Thus all kinds of Chinese teaching methods have become a popular topic among oversea Chinese education researchers. How to promote the Chinese culture which has thounsands year history in other countries is a brand new topic. A long last question that every Chinese language school facing is that how to make local American kids become interested in learning Chinese so that they would stay. This has become the bottle neck of Chinese education. Starting from fall, 2009, KKCS established a class for American kids and their parents. I was very lucky to be selected as the teacher of this class. I gave it a interesting name, "Family General Mobilization for Learning Chinese." This is a new trial for me in teaching American kids Chinese. This success is also a breaking point for combining traditional Chinese culture and modern western civilization. "Family General Mobilization for Learning Chinese," as stated in the name, parents and kids study Chinese together in the same classroom, so that they could learn Chinese through parent-child interactive activities. This way, kids from American family could also review Chinese after class with their parents. It also meets the needs of the parents who are long to learn Chinese. This class can help kids from American family to master Chinese easily.

Looking back to the teaching in this period, I have the following feelings and thoughts about how to pay attention to students' individual characteristics, their different family background, how to explore the educational reforms to make the teaching more similar to real life so that the kids can master Chinese easily and apply them to their daily life:

1. Keep the characteristics of Chinese traditional culture; teach the students Chinese culture to fit them into Chinese learning background.

Many oversea Chinese teachers crave in western teaching method, ie. teaching with fun, letting the kids learn through games. However, "Family General Mobilization for Learning Chinese" carries out exactly the opposite method. It utilizes the traditional Chinese educational method which focuses on education. This introduces western kids and their families the strict discipline and rigorousness of a traditional Chinese classroom. Due to the open thinking mode of western families, it is especially important to catch the attention of the parents and kids in the class. Rigorous class discipline plays an important role in controlling the sloppy studying habits. It makes the kids and parents realize that learning Chinese is important and meaningful. So the kids will have a stronger will to learn Chinese, which will help to reach our teaching goals.

2. According to the text in the book, it helps the kids to apply Chinese language and culture to their daily lives.

I tried to finish the content on the textbook; at the same time, let Chinese go into real life. I gave Chinese names to each kid, and asked them to use Chinese to make daily conversations in class. I also asked parents to talk to their kids in Chinese whenever possible in their daily life. This helps to motivate the kids to learn Chinese, and make this difficult and strange language vivid to them.

3. Parent-child interation makes the classroom more spirited.

When American kids come to a Chinese class for the first time, they always wish that their parents could stay with them. I fully utilized this characteristic of parent-child interation; let parents join the class, and asked them to find out who can study faster and better to make the class more interesting. Also, under the guidance of the parents, even the most active kids could calm down. They wanted to compete with their parents and see who can learn better, too.

After some time, some kids seemed to prefer their parents not to join the class anymore, because they were confident that they could be the teacher of their parents when they went back home. Of course, the parents still come to the class with much interest, and they were very grateful that KKCS offered such a free Chinese language and culture learning opportunity. Through parent-child interactive activities, they had a better family relationship while learning new knowledge and growing up with their kids. This semester is going to end soon, some of the parents enrolled their kids to our summer program, continuing their Chinese study. Others are looking forward to the fall semester. All the kids are going to stay for the fall semester, moreover, some of them are bringing their friends to KKCS, too. This is really interesting, and make me feel fulfilled.

Chinese has a saying, "Ten year to establish a tree, hundred years to establish a person," I truly hope that traditional Chinese culture will make parent-child interaction more fun. I hope the Chinese education at KKCS,  a Chinese School with such a long history, will grow better and better, and our "Family General Mobilization for Learning Chinese" will become a brillient scenery line.

Brief Teaching Experience on “Accelerated Mandarin Class”

                                       By Huijie Miao, PhD

Time passes fast. The "Accelerated Mandarin Class" at KKCS has become a standard Chinese class from an experimental class in just a year. When seeing those little kids who are not much taller than the desks recognizing more than one thousand Chinese characters, reading short Chinese stories fluently, their parents, teacher and the principal are evidently proud. Here, I would like to thank the program designer, the principal, Dr. Yanyu Zhou. It was her, who gave me this opportunity, gave me her trust, and supported me from all respects. She encouraged me to try out my ways of education, meanwhile providing me precious suggestions. I also would like to thank my students. They all worked very hard; I never had to worry about their homework, and we always had a very good time together in the class. I learned a lot from my kids during this year's teaching. I would like to thank the parents, too. Without their help and support, this class wouldn't reach its expectation. They spent 15 minutes everyday to study with their kids together. 15 minutes is not long, but keeping doing it everyday is surely not an easy task. With the effort of the school, the students and the parents, after a one year experiment, our "Accelerated Mandarin Class" finally reached a perfect ending.

“Accelerated Mandarin Class,” offered by KKCS presents a very interesting and excellent way to teach. Honestly, as one learning a language, the ability to read and understand appears to be more practical than that of writing. However, the traditional Chinese teaching methods put much weight on writing. No doubt, this is designed to overcome the difficulty in writing complicated Chinese characters. But after our kids have studied Chinese for two to three years, and found themselves still not able to read Chinese newspapers, nor could they enjoy Chinese movies, you can imagine how frustrated they would be. This new accelerated Mandarin course is specifically designed for kids age 5 to 8, according to the characteristics of the way their right brain functions. It allows the kids to be able to recognize 1000 Chinese characters in just a year, so that they can start some simple independent reading and watch some Chinese cartoons. In other words, the “Accelerated Mandarin Class” can effectively help the kids to raise their interest in Chinese studying, and let them actively want to learn Chinese themselves. In my point of view, this is the main significance of this course.

During the second semester, obviously the kids study Chinese even more efficiently. They were already familiar with this teaching method, and their parents were also more confident with this class. The main question we had was how to help the kids to review the several  hundreds characters learned last semester while learning new characters. This semester, we had more readings in our class. All kinds of childern's stories are the key to raise their interests to learn Chinese. We also studied some ancient Chinese poems, for example, "Chant for the geese," "A spring morning," "Recital for my kind mother," and so on. Through the study of these easy reading ancient poems, I tried to introduce my kids the essentials in Chinese culture, and also teach them the traditional Chinese moral doctrins. Thus, the "Accelerated Mandarin Class" has become richer and more substantial. Next semester, when my kids enter their third year of Chinese study, I hope they will have more opportunities to read. On one hand, reading can help them to go over the characters we have learned so far; on the other hand, it can also promote their interests in learning Chinese language and culture. I have my believe in them; I am confident that their Chinese level could compare to that of kids who grow up in China.

I am very glad to see that my kids realized that learning Chinese does not always need to be boring and painful; rather it could be fun and interesting.  The end of the semester is approaching again. It's time to give out the awards. As the teacher of this class, I felt really hard to nominate the candidates. In my heart, every kid in the class is excellent; every one of them had big success. I would like to tell them: all of you are number one, and you made your teacher and parents proud!

Talking about the Combination Class of Mandarin and Cantonese

By Fei Wang

The combination Class of Mandarin and Cantonese was designed by Kwong Kow Chinese School (KKCS) principal Dr. Zhou Yanyu. Just as the name implies, this course uses two kinds of languages (Cantonese and Mandarin) and two kinds of fonts (Simplified and Traditional), by combining entertainment and multimedia. Through this way, the students can easily master the two kinds of language. Through learning simplified Chinese characters, students can also identify the traditional forms. Learning both simplified and traditional characters can meet the different needs of learning Chinese language and culture.

It is said that it takes a teacher to transmit wisdom, impart knowledge, and resolve doubts. Teaching the experimental class is not easy which takes a heavy responsibility. My experience is as follows.

1. Teaching model needs to be reformed. The experimental class is a way to gradually change the teaching model.
2. Class preparation is the premise of the teaching. Scientific design and reasonable arrangements for each class are the key to successful teaching. Especially to the experimental class, there are many things outside of the textbook, which need to be prepared creatively. Chinese characters, especially traditional characters, consist of complicated strokes. To make the characters easier and more interesting for students, the teacher needs to understand the roots of Chinese characters. According to the students’ psychological characteristics, level of acceptance and cultural backgrounds, the lesson plans should be designed carefully. Combined with puzzle games, children’s songs, the classes are fun and joyful.
3. In order to strengthen students’ discipline, the teacher should let the students participate in the class management. First, create the leadership system, through which students can develop their team spirit. This can also inspire their enthusiasm to learn Chinese. Secondly, through teaching traditional Chinese ritual culture, students not only learn Chinese language, but also Chinese culture and etiquette.
4. To establish a good teacher-student relationship, this topic from a pedagogical point of view, whether or economic point of view, are very important. A good interaction between teachers and students can stimulate the interest in learning. Teachers should have a wealth of knowledge, the spirit of dedication, and the love to students.
5. Overseas Chinese-language teachers should continually update and enrich the teaching methods with the times. Therefore, students can really learn Chinese with fun. It takes ten years to grow trees but a hundred years to educate people. When the “Chinese fever” is getting more and more popular, Chinese teachers are facing numerous challenges. However, If you don 't experience the test of wind and rain, you can't see the rainbow. I believe KKCS will have a bright future.

Let the Children Learn Chinese With Fun: My Experience of Teaching Mandarin With Fun

                                                 By Jiyun Liao

China is an ancient country with five thousands years history. It is also a giant country with a population of thirteen billion. As China is growing, it is taking a powerful position in the world. Learning Chinese has been paid more attention than ever before. Many Chinese immigrants parents hope their children understand both English and Chinese, as well as the heritage of the motherland’s culture and traditions. Therefore, the children will be more competitive.

I came to the U.S. and joined the team of Kwong Kow Chinese School. I teach children Chinese, Chinese culture to let more Chinese immigrant children in the U.S. understand China. I feel that promoting Chinese virtues, such as respect for teachers, seniors, appreciation of hard work, thrifty, is a meaningful work.

After several years of teaching Chinese in KKCS, I found that teaching Chinese in the U.S. is not easy. Students in the U.S. have more freedom. They are not as obedient as students in China. Moreover, there is no Chinese language environment around them. Many of the students come to KKCS for the sake of their parents or they are forced to come by their parents. Thus, their learning motivation and enthusiasm are not that great. A teacher may have to spend time and effort, pay attention to teaching methods to improve children's interest in learning, in order to receive good results.

In spring 2009, KKCS implemented the education reform. The main purpose is to make the Chinese learning experience more fun, relaxed, entertaining and efficient. When I took over the “Learning Mandarin with Fun” experimental class, I felt pressure. It was a pilot class, therefore, the principal had very strict requirements. The teacher needed to turn in the lesson plans before each class. I was uncertain if I could succeed. But my love to the students encouraged me to carry on. I did lots of researches at home and in the library. Then I decided to use Children’s songs to teacher the students. The results showed that students love the songs and they are very easy to remember.

At the same time, I researched on various games, which would be helpful to the class. Facts proved that these games are useful. For example, we played the game “secret words”. Students passed a sentence I told them along. Because this game had a sense of mystery, students were particularly interested in it. I also used scientific methods to teach. For example, when we learned the “Spring Rain” in class, I taught students how seeds germinate, grow. Then I gave them some sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds. They took the seeds back home to plant and observe the process of the plant growth. This method achieved many goals. Students not only learned knowledge of science, but also easily remembered the Chinese texts.

I taught through lively activities, in this way, students developed strong interest in participating the class. This semester, the students can fluently recite all the 12 lessons in the textbook. On May 9th, they presented to their parents, other teachers and schoolmates what they have learned. All the parents and others were surprised how could they easily learn so much Chinese. My answer is, the beauty of learning mandarin with fun.

Twenty-three Years of Teaching in KKCS
By Yanhui Hu

How time flies! I have spent 23 springs and autumns in Kwong Kow Chinese School, farewell 23 years of graduates. I’m glad to see them inherit the Chinese culture virtues, playing important roles in various industries.

I remember the fall of 1986 , the first day I came to KKCS. Tang Fengming, the school principal warmly welcomed me, saying: “Welcome Hu, I know that you are an experienced teacher. I hope you can continue to apply your talent in KKCS, using good teaching methods to teach overseas Chinese.” Then she enlightened me that teaching in KKCS was different from teaching in normal schools because students in KKCS were from many places, who can not speak either Cantonese or Mandarin. Also the class time was only three hours a day. Therefore I needed to come up with specific teaching strategies in order to meet different needs from students. I started from the preparatory classes, with children at age of five or six. I expressed my caring to them, taught them, instructed them, companied them from pre-class to after-class, from classroom to bathroom. I followed them everywhere at school. I gradually let them to understand the need of learning Chinese and developed their interest in learning Chinese, at the same time, I gave them the methods of learning Chinese.

In terms of literacy teaching, I taught them the strokes of Chinese characters, in accordance with the structure of characters. I asked them to write correctly and well.

Talking about language teaching, I asked students to read, inspiring them to understand their predecessors. The reading also helped them to prepare the coming class. I also combined reading and writing, asking students to explain the meaning of the words, phrases, and the paragraph structure. Then I would ask them write a paragraph and read it out. After that, I asked other students to make comments. If a student wrote well and earned praises from other students, he or she would have a sense of achievement.

I’m not only a teacher, but I’m a friend of all my students. I can’t harvest that much in the last 23 years without the encouragement and instruction from the former Principal Tang. She often said that “no hard work, no rewards.” My education experience proved what she said.

Nowadays, KKCS is leaded by the new board of directors and new principal Dr. Zhou Yanyu, who advocate holistic education, encourage education reform. So far, they have trained teachers well, improved the quality of teaching, founded six experimental classes successfully. In order to gain the support from parents, they invited parents to participant in the class. I believe, under their new leadership, KKCS will have a brighter future.