EDUC 425 Professor Fruja Take-Home Exam April Ma 12/06/2013 The Application of the Principle of Interest in Chinese Language

Teaching The Introduction of the Principle of Interest and the Interest Elements As more international attention is drawn to the once mysterious country China due to its growing political, economic, and cultural influence, there has been a dramaticly growing population learning Chinese language globally. In response, TCFL (Teaching Chinese as Foreign Language) has become a new academic field that calls current teachers and scholars research interest. Among current studies in effective Chinese language teaching classroom management and strategies, the principle of interest is listed as the most crucial component in successful Chinese language instruction. The principle of interest refers to a teaching method that is used by the instructor during the language instruction to maximize and ignite learners learning motivation and experience through humorous language, flexible teaching techniques, vivid imagery, visual presentations, and infectious passion. It requires the instructor to develop various strategies centered from the learners to make the abstract and challenging Chinese language learning approachable and interesting. This paper examines the application of the principle of interest in a real Chinese language classroom at Bucknell University using a literature review with current studies on the principle of interest in the field of TCFL. The reason for examining the principle of interest instead of other principles, such as the principle of grammar, the principle of cultural incorporation, the principle of language application, and other principles summarized based on linguistic regulatities, is

due to the uniqueness of the American college beginning Chinese language classroom environment. This year, there are twenty-four American students taking CHIN 101 at Bucknell University. Each of them started the course with strong motivation and interest in learning a new language. However, due to the great difference between Chinese language and English language and the challenge caused by such difference, their interests and motivations are difficult to sustain throughout the semester. Therefore, the instructor holds a great responsibility in maintaining students initial interests and devising class activities to make the abstract Chinese language approachable to students. Instructor Wu, or Wu Laoshy in Chinese, is the language instructor of the recitation session for 24 beginning Chinese language learners this semester (Fall 2013) at Bucknell University. He gained his master degree from the prestigious Beijing Normal University in TCFL and has worked with diverse groups of Chinese language learners from different countries. Holding the strong belief that students learn the best when being motivated, he constantly adds interest elements in his classroom instruction. Interest elements, as its name implies, are instructional elements that intrigue learners and hook them into active learning, such as cultural anecdotes, jokes, visuals presentations, media clips, and others. This paper will analyze the incorporation of the interest elements in the Chinese language classroom based on thirteen weeks in class observation of Wu Laoshys Chinese 101 class. The Various Categories of the Interest Elements in the Field of TCFL Based on empirical observation and careful organization of the interest elements that were devised and incorporated by Wu Laoshy in the beginning Chinese language classroom, the interest elements in TCFL could be analyzed in three ways: the different

instructional sessions where the interest elements are implanted, the various entertaining outcomes of the interest elements, and the distinct sources of the interest elements. The first perspective to analyze the interest elements is through different instructional session that the interest elements could be implanted. A successful classroom management normally establishes a routine for students to follow. In a successful Chinese language classroom or any foreign language classroom, the routine could be established through six parts: the introduction of the topic, the preview of the new vocabulary, the instruction of the class materials, the interactive question and answer session following the instruction, the oral communicative practice with peers, and the final review at the end of the class (Chen, 2010). In Wu Laoshys classroom, he uses a very similar instructional routine as above; more than that, he also manages to incorporate interest elements in each session. To be more specific, when introducing a new topic, he always finds funny and exaggerated pictures to hook the students into the topic; when introducing new vocabulary, he would acts out the vocabulary with his vivid physical movements; when instructing the content of the unit, he would add on cultural anecdotes to the class materials; when answering students questions, he associates the answer with individual students previous exposure to the language to ensure students understanding; and during the oral practices between students, he incorporates college appropriate jokes into conversation topics. It is obvious that students remain highly concentrated and engaged throughout the period. The second perspective to analyze the interest elements is through various entertaining outcomes of the interest elements. With each interest element introduced to the students, there are three possible outcomes: a light classroom atmosphere, more interest in the Chinese language and culture, and infectious laughter. In a light classroom

atmosphere, students are more inclined to engage and speak more Chinese language. One interest element that was used by Wu Laoshy was bringing knife and fork to the classroom on the food unit and acting out joyful eating even though there were no actual foods there. Students were entertained by his act and were actively practicing the sentences out loud. Besides this, certain interest elements are designed to increase learners interests in Chinese culture. The primary motivation of the majority of Chinese language learners in learning the language is exploring the country and its culture. According to Meng Guo (2005), constantly introducing cultural anecdotes not only enriches students immersion experience, but also maintains their motivation. For example, Wu Laoshy elaborated on the social interactions between female and male from a dialogue between two college students in the textbook as a cultural lesson. Whats more, there is also interest elements designed to produce laughter. In Wu Laoshys class, students are constantly laughing out loud because of his humorous personality and the funny jokes and examples that he prepared. The third perspective to analyze the interest elements is through distinct sources of the interest elements. In general, the language instructor is the primary source of the interest elements. However, the interest elements could also be produced by students, the textbook, in-class activities, and others. In a caring and positive classroom environment, students could also create interest elements by sharing cultural experiences they had before and answering each others questions in creative manners. Besides, textbook is also a major source of interest elements. Scholars in the field of TCFL like Songhao Liu (2008) and Xiaohong Ma (2008) found out that incorporating the principle of interest in the Chinese language textbook could greatly enhance students language learning. The textbook that is used by Wu Laoshy contains several entertaining culturally relevant

conversations and misunderstandings. Whats more, in class activities and educational strategies are also big components of the interest elements. Proper amount of physical movements and Chinese themes of intellectual games help students concentrate on the in class materials. Games like Bingo and Acting Out Vocabularies were used in Wu Lao shys classroom. When providing feedback on the class, students all regard in-class activities as effective learning tools. The Application of the Principle of Interest in TCFL With the detailed background and the theoretical analysis of the interest elements in TCFL, the focus is now shifted to the application of the interest elements in the Chinese language classroom. Where and how can the principle of interest be implanted into the TCFL curriculum? Catering to the structure of the language curriculum,there are four places that the language instructor can incorporate the principle of interest into their curriculum to benefit the learners: the overall curriculum design, the unit plan corresponding with the textbook, the in-class instruction, and the language assessment. Professor Wang Qiang from HongHe College in China (2008) summarizes five strategies that can be used in those sessions to promote interest combined instructions. They are the method of acting, the method of memorization, the method of gaming, the method of tongue twisters, and the method of comparison. Each of these instructional methods could be implanted to the four places in the Chinese language teaching curriculum. From a macro perspective, in terms of curriculum design, the instructor can conduct classes in diverse formats and use resources from distinct media. In current college classrooms, PowerPoint lecturing is still the predominant instructional format. However, to diversify the curriculum, the instructor could consider changing the

PowerPoint to Prezi, a cloud based presentation software tool for presenting ideas on a virtual canvas. Whats more, certain classes can be conducted outside of the classroom, such as the local gallery when introducing Chinese art or the local Chinese restaurant when learning about Chinese food. The textbook is crucial in assisting students learning. Based on Songhao Lius study (2008) on current TCFL textbooks, he categorizes the language textbooks that contain interest elements into two categories: product interest and process interest. Product interest refers to interest elements that are revealed explicitly in the textbook including the paper material, binding and laying out, picture illustrations, text materials, printed practices, and etc. Process interest refers to the interest elements that are added and devised by the instructor as he/she presents the textbook, such as various teaching strategies that are elaborated from the textbook. In-class instruction is the most direct channel to incorporate interest elements by the instructor. The principle of interest could be applied through the instructors vivid presentation as well as through various teaching strategies, such as the five teaching methods summarized by Wang Qiang (2002). Take the method of acting as an example. The instructor can apply it in various forms to encourage the learners creativity. To be more specific, on the lesson that introduces Chinese greeting manner contains a short four-line conversation on Ni Hao (hello to same social hierarchical group) and Nin Hao (hello to higher social hierarchical group). Even though the dialogue is short and simple, the instructor can assign students to play different roles across ages and professions to distinguish and master the use of Ni and Nin.

The principle of interest could also be applied to the language assessment session, akin to the in-class instruction session. The instructor can make the assessment more interesting by adding detailed descriptions of the question and setting a real life language dilemma for students to solve. Whats more, Wang Qiangs five interesting methods could also escalate the interest of the language class, like acting out one part of the class materials, memorizing new vocabulary in a short time, tongue twister contest, and the competition between groups. Discussion of the application of the principle In conclusion, the purpose and benefit of implanting the principle of interest are tremendous, such as stimulating and maintaining learners motivation to promote active learning, increasing learning efficiency, promoting a collectivistic and caring community, and establishing a friendly relationship between the instructor and students. However, this does not mean that the more interest elements the instructor incorporates in the curriculum, the better Chinese language proficiency the students can achieve. The principle of interest should be applied on the premise of serving language instruction as auxiliary tools, not the core of the course. It should be used in combination with as many grammatical points as possible. Certain scholars such as Meng Guo (2005) hold the view that the principle of interest becomes meaningless if it is not applied in practice. Therefore, the instructor needs to be wise enough to balance the use of interest elements to the amount that ignites leaners interest but will not interfere with the ordinary core language instruction.

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