Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 1998

U nited College launched its new Language and Culture Programme i n the s ummer of 1998, w i t h assistance f r om the Foreign Languages School of Zh o n g s h an University. The p r o g r amme was for students w h o have taken the college's elementary or intermediate putonghua classes and been recommended for attendance by their instructors. The f i v e - d ay p r o g r a mme b r i n gs u n d er the same roof three i m p o r t a nt elements:(1) the learning and use of putonghua, including a formal introduction to Ma n d a r in phonology and the differences between Cantonese and putonghua; (2) learning and experiencing aspects of Guangdong culture through the me d i um of p u t o n g h u a; and (3) u n d e r s t a n d i ng a nd experiencing the life of u n i v e r s i ty students on the mainland. A unique feature of the programme was the pairing of each United College participant w i t h a student of Zhongshan University d u r i ng the length of the p r o g r amme to ensure they have m a x i m um exposure to putonghua and to foster friendship between students of both universities. Participants f o u nd the p r o g r amme useful i n enhancing their listening and speaking abilities and helping t h em to understand other points of v i ew on life and work. T he first year of the college's language enhancement p r o g r amme saw the launch of 11 projects w h i ch attracted 314 participants. After three years, in 1997-98, the attendance rose to 553, representing an increase of 76 per cent. The most popular activities were the Putonghua Summer Camp and the Overseas English Study Tour. Between 1995 and 1998 a total of 144 students were selected and subsidized by the college to participate in month-long intensive summer language study tours to Beijing Language and Culture University, Zhejiang University of Technology, Washington State University, and Seattle University. The t o u rs are k n o w n for their c omp r e h e n s i ve a nd o r g a n i z ed course curriculum, interactive learning environment, and emphasis on group activities, wh i ch range from classroom instruction and conversation gatherings to company visits, city tours, a nd homestay. Participants of the s t u dy t o ur to Z h e j i a ng Un i v e r s i ty of Technology, for example, were each assigned a ' b u d d y' selected f r om top students in the partner university as conversation partner. To enable them to experience local culture, they were arranged to stay at local homes for a week. Participants of the tours to American universities had to produce photo journals of their entire trip. The exercise was an o p p o r t u n i ty for them to practise w r i t i ng as we ll as research into American culture. Students have shown an enthusiasm for and increased confidence in communicating i n English u p on completion of the tours. 35 Years of Bilingual Education 7