Teaching and Learning

Detailed example

Magazine article about how Confucianism influences people’s lives and relationships

Preparation:

• Select a written or viewed text that contains illustrative examples of Confucian values and representation of cultural symbols.
• Use poster paper for group discussion.
• Use small cards for individual contributions, or sticky-notes for creating an idea wall.
• Use individual notebooks for organising notes and writing.

Implementation:

1. Prior to introducing the written or viewed text, read short extracts about the director or the creator of the text. Discuss how the creator’s personal background may have influenced their views on traditional Confucian values.
2. While exploring the text, students identify and note down cultural symbols that typically represent particular cultural ideologies. For example, in the film Drink Eat Man Woman, the scene that depicts the Chu family’s Saturday family reunion feast and the father / daughters’ reactions to the seating arrangement symbolise the Chinese view on family relationships and the conflicting views between generations.
3. Assign students to small groups of three to five. If necessary, appoint one student as group facilitator. Each student is to focus on one or two of the five key relationships of Confucianism (ruler to subject, father to son, husband to wife, brother to brother and friends to friends). Students are to identify evidence and illustrative examples from the text that reflect the values of those relationships and write them down on big poster paper.
4. Students walk around the room looking at the group posters displayed on the walls. They are invited to add more details to these posters with their sticky-notes, thereby contributing their interpretations, analyses and reflections to the poster displays.
5. As a class, review the display. Guide students to group the evidence and illustrative examples according to either of the five key relationships, or different generations, or individual characters. Promote analysis and evaluative discussions on how traditional Chinese values have shaped societal life of modern Chinese people, and draw conclusions about how these developments have been presented in the text.
6. Outline the characteristics, purpose and requirements of article writing. Students consider ways to use evidence gathered and how to organise and make effective use of a range of source material. They develop an article outline, including an introduction, body paragraphs and a conclusion.
7. Individual writing. Based on the class discussion, each student produces a magazine article that draws on sources to explain how particular aspects of Confucianism influence people’s lives and relationships.

Detailed example

Questions on a short podcast

Students listen to a short podcast about Chinese families and respond to specific questions in English and in Chinese.

1. Before listening to the podcast, students are instructed on how the task will be conducted. For example, how many times they are allowed to listen to the text, length of the text.
2. Students read the questions and highlight the key words in the questions.
3. Students listen to the podcast for the first time and take notes.
4. When the podcast stops, students read their own notes and connect words or sentences to make sense of the spoken text – the main ideas, supporting ideas and specific information.
5. They listen to the podcast again and check if there is anything missing in the previous notes.
6. Students extract information from the notes to respond to questions in English and in Chinese. Where relevant, they use examples from stimulus texts to support responses.
7. When answering questions in Chinese, students should check accuracy of spelling, grammar, punctuation and expression.

Detailed example

A reply email to a penpal

Before the task:

1. During the study of the subtopic, create a vocabulary list with relevant Chinese characters that include school subjects, routines, facilities, extra-curricular activities and other aspects of school life. Work out strategies to associate meaning of the characters with their formations and develop skills in writing characters.
2. Practise using an English–Chinese / Chinese–English dictionary.
3. Practise using the vocabulary and sentence patterns covered to write a short journal entry for a typical day at school.
4. Read two to three texts about Chinese students’ school life to obtain information, identify the main ideas and supporting ideas. Use this information to respond to comprehension questions, in Chinese.
5. Discuss characteristics of personal writing and features of the text type.
6. As a practice before the task, write an email to a Chinese student to establish friendship. Get feedback from the teacher and act on any advice provided.

For the task:

7. Read the email from the Chinese penpal about their school day and respond to their questions about your school day in Victoria, in a reply email.
8. Make sure the features of the text type are shown, and ideas are developed and sequenced coherently.
9. Check accuracy of characters, grammar and expression.

Detailed example

Exploratory essay on a Chinese myth or legend and its connection to Confucianism, Daoism and / or Buddhism

Exploratory essay on a Chinese myth or legend and its connection to Confucianism, Daoism and / or Buddhism.
Students complete the following activities:

1. Undertake research into the development of representations and images of Chinese deities, myths and legends.
2. Gather information about how people worship deities by reading historical myths and legends. They explore information in reference texts and examine examples of artefacts in order to explain how elements of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism are represented in Chinese mythology and cultural practices.
3. Analyse content in reference texts that explains the role of myths and legends in the daily lives and cultural practices of contemporary Chinese speakers. They consider how this contributes to a sense of identity and belonging, and how it supports relationships in a community.
4. Discuss ways in which Chinese people practise within the three-philosophy framework (religious or not) and how the same faith and belief system contributes to Chinese people’s identity.  
5. Conduct further research into a selected myth or legend with the goal of analysing and discussing its characteristics, ideas and functions, as well as the virtues and values that it represents. They report their findings to the class with supporting examples such as images, historical wall paintings, traditional brush paintings, calligraphy or other artefacts.
6. Teacher outlines the characteristics, purpose and requirements of exploratory essay writing. Students consider ways to use evidence gathered and how to organise and make effective use of a range of source material to develop and support ideas. Students develop an essay outline, including an introduction, body paragraphs and a conclusion.
7. Based on individual research, students produce an exploratory essay that draws on examples of artefacts and content in reference texts to explain how a chosen Chinese myth or legend relates to the development of key beliefs of one of the three major philosophies.

Detailed example

Role play an interview

Before the task:

1. Brainstorm known vocabulary and grammar related to the subtopic of interests and hobbies.
2. View video clips on changes in how young Chinese people spend their leisure time and take notes. Compare notes with classmates and make a list of relevant new words and expressions.
3. Using these notes, create new sentences about the changes that have taken place over time, explaining the reasons and expressing views about these changes.
4. Listen to a conversation between two students talking about their favourite hobbies. Take notes on how they ask each other questions and notice if there are any cues for turn-taking, exclamations and fillers.
5. Discuss strategies for initiating a conversation, moving a conversation forward and maintaining the exchange. Discuss correct forms of address, as well as non-verbal forms of communication, such as gestures and eye contact
6. Role-play in pairs, asking each other about hobbies and interests and practising using non-verbal communication strategies to enhance meaning.
7. In small groups, prepare a list of questions that can be used for the interview and practise how to respond to the questions.

For the task:

8. Read the task carefully to gain understanding of the context of the interview and its purpose.
9. The teacher plays the role of the interviewer. They start the interview and ask questions. They listen to the responses to the questions and ask for clarification and further details when needed.
10. The interviewee listens carefully to the questions and asks for clarification when needed. They respond to questions appropriately, providing relevant information and ideas to support the exchange.
11. Both speakers make sure that they maintain the exchange, direct it and close it appropriately.
12. Throughout the interview, speakers pay attention to fluency and accuracy of expression.

Detailed example

An article in response to texts about Melbourne’s Chinese New Year

Before the task:

1. Study the relevant vocabulary and expressions related to the subtopic of Chinese New Year.
2. Share with classmates your understanding of the Chinese New Year festival by presenting key ideas and concepts you have learned during the study of the subtopic. The thinking routine, ‘What I used to know…. Now I know…’, can be used.
3. Read informative extracts to research the celebration of Chinese New Year in different parts of the world.
4. View images of Chinese New Year celebrations and share understanding of the images.
5. Listen to a student talk about their experiences of celebrating the festival in Melbourne and answer questions on Chinese New Year.
6. Discuss the characteristics of informative writing.
7. Identify the text type features of an article.

For the task:

8. Read a Chinese student’s diary entry about their experiences when celebrating Chinese New Year in Melbourne and identify relevant information, main ideas and supporting ideas.
9. View the provided stimulus images to elicit relevant information.
10. Summarise and synthesise the information extracted from the written and viewed texts.
11. Write an informative article in response to the texts, developing and supporting ideas with the information obtained. Pay attention to the context, the purpose and the audience, which is students in a school in China.
12. Proofread carefully for accuracy of spelling and grammar.

Detailed example

A report on Chinese philosophy’s influence on aspects of the Chinese-speaking world

Students complete the following activities:

1. Gather factual information about each of the Chinese philosophies, including the development of the philosophy, a short biography of its significant scholars, famous quotations and relevant historical events.
2. Consolidate understanding of how the three philosophies have shaped Chinese communities, by engaging with a range of texts. Re-read or review key scenes or chapters from the texts that illustrate or represent elements of Chinese philosophy. For each text, create a set of annotated notes that record the illustrative examples of the philosophies, how they are depicted, their context, significance, and what may have changed. 
3. Consider a range of perspectives and viewpoints to gather evidence about the role that Chinese philosophies and traditional values have played in shaping cultural practices and identity in Chinese-speaking communities. Summarise, synthesise and evaluate the information from the texts to support explanations and arguments, and to draw conclusions. This could be presented as an annotated timeline, or in a table format.
4. Develop a scaffold for the report, including an outline for an introduction, body paragraphs and a conclusion. Consider ways to use evidence gathered and how to organise and structure a range of ideas within and throughout paragraphs to support arguments and explanations.
5. Write an individual report that uses evidence from texts to discuss the extent to which Chinese philosophies continue to influence aspects of the Chinese-speaking world.

Detailed example

Listen to spoken texts to compare city and country living

Before the task:

1. Work to revise and extend vocabulary about city living and country living, paying attention to key words and grammatical structures that are relevant to the subtopic.
2. Develop strategies to learn how to write characters accurately, and how to use contextual clues to make meaning of unfamiliar words.
3. Read texts, such as blog posts and diary entries, about different people’s experiences of living in the city or in the country. Identify the main ideas, supporting ideas and specific details in the texts. Use the information obtained to respond to questions in Chinese. Become familiar with how speakers of Chinese use relevant vocabulary and sentence patterns to express their opinions.
4. Form opinions and views on the issues. Share them with the class and respond in Chinese to questions from classmates.
5. When listening to the different opinions and views provided by class members, identify and note the key vocabulary related to the subtopic. Practise conveying meaning in Chinese.

For the task:

6. Read the task carefully to understand what is required.
7. Read the questions carefully before listening to the spoken texts.
8. While listening, identify the key vocabulary and take notes.
9. Use information obtained to respond to the questions in Chinese. Remember to write in characters. 
10. Use strategies developed to tackle new words, using the dictionary if necessary. 
11. Tackle easy questions first and then develop responses to the difficult questions.
12. Check the accuracy of spelling and grammar in the responses. If you are required to respond to a question with a paragraph or lengthy answer, remember to present the ideas and supporting ideas logically. Check coherence within the paragraph.

Detailed example

A response to written texts about the advantages and disadvantages of working while at high school

Before the task:

1. Revise and expand vocabulary related to jobs, careers, schooling, and school life.
2. Discuss the pros and cons of working while studying at school. Take notes of relevant ideas.
3. Identify characteristics of a range of writing styles and common text type features for articles and reports.
4. Read one personal account and one informative article that describe various aspects of casual or part-time work for young people. Identify the main ideas and supporting ideas, and discuss how the features of writing styles and characteristics of text types are reflected. Complete comprehension questions in Chinese based on the texts.
5. Read a career counsellor’s advice on how to choose a career and two student reflections about what they would like to do when they leave school. Use the information to write an informative article for a specific audience.

For the task:

6. Read a magazine article and a blog post on the advantages and disadvantages of high school students working in casual jobs while studying. Identify the main ideas and supporting ideas. Use strategies to tackle new words and expressions, if needed.
7. Respond to questions in Chinese and make sure that full sentences are used.
8. Use the information to produce an informative report in Chinese. It should be 100–150 characters in length and directed to students in a sister school in China.
9. Proofread all responses and check if the ideas are sequenced logically. Also check the coherence within and between paragraphs in the informative report.
10. Check accuracy of spelling and grammar.

Detailed example

Essay on how technological change in contemporary China has impacted Chinese social and cultural values

1. Using the information found in a range of reference texts, explore a selection of current social issues in China that relate to technological change; for example, building a cashless society and / or other technology applications.  
2. Explore how developments in modern technologies have impacted the five traditional Confucian relationships. For example, how has the cashless society impacted the traditional cultural practice of giving red envelopes? How has modern technology impacted the tradition of shared household finance, family gatherings or festivals? Record ideas and examples to use as evidence.
3. Investigate the cultural and historical conditions that may have influenced developments and changes. Use a graphic organiser or table as a means of visually organising ideas and examples. Consider the impact that traditional cultural values have had, and reflect on the challenges brought by the current social environment.
4. Summarise, synthesise and evaluate information from a wide range of texts and perspectives to support explanations and arguments, and to draw conclusions.
5. Develop an essay outline, including an introduction, body paragraphs and a conclusion. Consider ways to use evidence gathered and how to organise and make effective use of a range of source material within and throughout paragraphs to develop and support range of views on the issue.
6. Write an essay that draws on information and different points of view in reference texts to explain how technological change in contemporary China has impacted Chinese social and cultural values.

Detailed example

Role-play at a travel agency

The aim of the task is for students to participate in a two- to three-minute role-play with a travel agent where they organise a trip to a Chinese-speaking country or region.

Before the task:

1. Research a Chinese-speaking place of interest. Create a glossary of its various attractions, climate / weather, transport and food, etc. 
2. View a video of people talking about visiting the place, paying attention to how they speak to others, including non-verbal communication strategies, and how they engage listeners.
3. Create a plan for visiting the place, including information on when you would like to go, what you would like to see and where you want to stay, etc. Prepare some questions about organising a trip to the place.
4. Write down key vocabulary and relevant information. Read them aloud to practise fluency of expression and accuracy of pronunciation, as well as appropriate intonation, tone, stress and pitch.
5. Discuss in class how to develop a role-play task effectively, paying attention to the requirements of the task.
6. Rehearse the role-play with a classmate. Practise skills in asking for or giving assistance or advice, suggesting, explaining, agreeing or disagreeing.

For the task:

7. Read the scenario of the role-play carefully to ensure understanding of the requirements of the task. The student undertakes the role play with the teacher. Each speaker has a designated role.
8. Start the role-play and move it forward to make arrangements with a travel agent for the trip indicated in the scenario, using the skills to inform, question, discuss, negotiate and achieve the purpose of the transaction.
9. During the role-play, pay attention to engaging the other speaker with non-verbal communication strategies.

Detailed example

A letter in response to texts about a restaurant visit

In this task, students read a review of a Chinese restaurant and view an image of the restaurant’s menu.
They write a letter to a Chinese-speaking friend about their recent visit to the restaurant.

Before the task:

1. Watch a documentary about Chinese food. Note the special features of the dishes.
2. Brainstorm Chinese dishes that class members have tried and survey the class about their favourite Chinese foods.
3. Read menus from different Chinese restaurants and note the names of dishes that you like.
4. Read comments in reviews of different Chinese restaurants’ websites. Summarise in dot points the customers’ views. 
5. Create a game to revise and extend relevant vocabulary on the subtopic.
6. Discuss the characteristics of personal writing and the features of a personal letter.
7. Read samples of personal letters.

For the task:

8. Read the instructions carefully to gain understanding of the requirements of the task.
9. Read the review of the restaurant and view the menu, taking notice of the images of the dishes.
10. Access vocabulary, characters and images from texts to extract meaning and organise ideas into a coherent response.
11. Plan the writing, taking into consideration the reader (a Chinese-speaking friend), the context and the purpose of the written response to the restaurant.
12. Write the letter, checking the features of the text type, the relevance of the content and the sequence of ideas.
13. Check the appropriateness of expressions and the accuracy of spelling and grammar.