Chinese Language Teachers Conceptions Of Knowledge Creation Knowledge And Knowing

This book responds to calls for further advancing knowledge creation in schools. It examines sixteen Chinese Language teachers from Singapore, since language teachers are primarily responsible for the basic literacy that is the foundation of students’ lifelong learning. Positing that people’s cultural beliefs and the language(s) they use are inseparable, the book argues that Chinese language teachers possess a unique understanding of the various phenomena that reflect the influences of Chinese culture by virtue of the language they speak and teach. For the purposes of the investigation, it employs phenomenography — a methodology aimed at finding and systematising how people interpret the world around them — to determine and describe Chinese language teachers’ conceptions of these phenomena.

Showcasing the design and implementation of knowledge building pedagogy, this book for educators and education researchers illuminates this future-oriented instructional and learning approach. In this Knowledge Age, innovation and creative knowledge works are central to the progress of a society; increasing the productivity of knowledge workers remains the main priority of competitive societies. Consequently, developing knowledge building capacity among students becomes one main goal of education. Knowledge building aims to transform school education in a radical way by developing the culture of innovation and knowledge creation in classrooms, from preschools to universities. Knowledge building pedagogy focuses on sustaining idea improvement among students, who develop the collective cognitive responsibility to add value to the learning community. Developed since the 1990s, knowledge building is now a model of instructions researched and advanced with an international network of researchers, teachers, educators, engineers, and policymakers. Implementing the knowledge building approach requires educators to make decisions based on principles, rather than following prescriptive procedures that characterized most instructional models. Tan highlights the key pedagogical principles and discusses the critical design considerations. He also identifies the emerging research directions and developmental works related to knowledge building. A must-read book for educators and education researchers who are interested in the design and implementation of knowledge building pedagogy.

Knowledge building aims to transform schools into learning communities and bring knowledge creation into schools. The book therefore elaborates on how learning, technology, and assessment can be aligned both online and offline to facilitate such a process. Adopting a quasi-experimental design and drawing on rich data from forum discussions, questionnaires, interviews, learning outcomes, and classroom presentations, this book shows that the knowledge building environment, augmented by reflective assessment and principles, helped Chinese students to develop a deeper approach to learning, improved academic performance, and promoted collective knowledge advances. The book also discusses the potentials and challenges of designing technology-supported, assessment- and principle-based learning environments in tertiary contexts, especially when deep learning and knowledge building capacity are greatly emphasised in the knowledge era. The book will be of interest to scholars and educators working in learning sciences and computer-supported collaborative learning.

This book uncovers the important issues in language learning and teaching in the intelligent, digital era. “Social connectivity” is a contemporary style of learning and living. By engaging in the connectivity of physical and digital worlds, how essential parts of language learning and teaching can be achieved? How can the advanced technologies, such as virtual reality and artificial intelligent, be used to solve the problems encountered by language learners? To answer the above mentioned question, plenty of inspiring studies are included in the book. It is a platform of exchange for researchers, educators, and practitioners on the theory and/or application of state-of-the-art uses of technology to enhance language learning.

This collection of articles begins with an overview of the Reviews from past decades, then goes on to describe the current practices, and foretells the possible future developments. This is followed by a discussion of the use of ICT and surveys on several professional aspects of teaching, including teachers’ training needs and perception of student difficulties, assessment literacy, familiarity and use of language teaching strategies, as well as perceived social status and job satisfaction. The book ends with an extensive discussion of bilingualism and code-switching as well as the teaching of Chinese culture in Singapore schools. The comprehensive coverage provides a milestone in Chinese Language teaching in the multi-lingual context of Singapore.

Drawing on the literature and research findings from relevant research fields, including educational technology, educational psychology, adult and workplace learning, and language education, this book gives an overview of the relationship of learner and teacher autonomy and technology in language teaching. It discusses how technology both benefits and constrains autonomy, and how a positive interaction between the two could be fostered. It underscores a critical perspective in understanding their relationships and a holistic approach to boosting a positive reciprocal relationship between the two.

Against the background of the Australian government’s strategic plan to promote Asian languages in schools, this book is an innovative autoethnographic inquiry into what actually occurs in the implementation of a Chinese language and culture program in an Australian context. Drawing on eight years of socio-cultural and educational fieldwork in a primary school, Chunyan Zhang examines complex, fluid and heterogeneous daily teaching practices and the ways in which ideas of China are assembled, presented and performed. She asks the following questions: What is China? Where does Taiwan fit into the China depicted in a multicultural, globalised classroom? Can Chinese communism or Chairman Mao be avoided in teaching English-speaking learners? What kind of China is brought in here while what kind of China is being silenced and othered? Through the partial connection between method assemblage and Daoist concepts, Zhang develops a water-like pedagogy in teaching. She uses the knowledge flow model to examine the imbalanced knowledge flow within teacher-student interactions. From finding China as a hybrid assemblage to proposing China as method, Zhang’s investigation makes an important contribution to the sociology of Chinese language education. This book is an essential and rich content resource for primary and secondary teacher education and research, teacher candidates and educators in Chinese as a second language education.

This volume brings together articles written by experts in the thriving field of language teacher education from a variety of geographical and institutional contexts, with a particular focus on EFL.

This book is cast in a Singaporean context in which Chinese Language is taught as a second language with an emphasis on communicational skills. It showcases ideas on including cultural teaching to enhance second language learning for more effective outcomes. As a collection of chapters relevant to cultural teaching, the book seeks to enthuse Chinese Language educators to incorporate elements of Chinese culture into their lessons. It is practice-oriented and provides examples using Chinese language textbooks, with suggestions for post-lesson activities. It also documents and discusses the needed developments of Singapore's Chinese culture with references to the three popular co-curricular activities of Chinese music, drama (crosstalk), and dance in schools.