Newsletter No. 7

CUHK Newsletter The Chinese Language Centre Not far from the University Train Station is an unobtrusive, quiet looking building which thousands of CUHK students, staff, andfaculty pass every day. Just about everybody knows it is the site of the New Asia-Yale-in-China Chinese Language Centre, but how many know the extent and exact nature of the activities which take place inside? Those who don't may be surprised to learn that behind its calm exterior, the centre is a beehive of activity. Principal Tasks A look at the list of the centre's primary tasks is also an eye-opener for those not familiar with its function. As Mr Liu Ming, the long-time director of the centre, explains, the centre has seven principal tasks to perform. These include: 1 offering Cantonese and Mandarin courses to non-Chinese speakers from overseas 2. teaching Mandarin to CUHK students; 3. offering Cantonese and Mandarin courses to University staff and faculty; 4. providing instruction in Cantonese and Mandarin for students affiliated with the Office of International Studies Programmes; 5. supplying Mandarin courses for local people studying in the extramural programme; 6. setting test papers and oral examinations in Mandarin for the Hong Kong Examinations Authority; 7.providing teaching/learning materials for non-university courses in Chinese languages, such as the current popular TV series, 'Everyday Putonghua’. Curriculu m Carrying out such a diverse and extensive set of tasks has helped earn the centre a solid reputation locally and overseas, but at the heart of the centre's international acclaim as a high-class institution offering instruction in Mandarin and Cantonese is the quality of the instruction and courses it offers. Its intensive, full-time curricula provide courses at eight different levels of instruction and include a wide selection of courses. The Mandarin curriculum, for example, contains 33 required courses, as well as 14 areas of elective study. Together, these courses constitute a solid foundation in fields such as history, literature, politics, geography, philosophy, economics, commerce, and religion. The Cantonese curriculum is even more diverse because of its long-standing tradition of training missionaries in the use of Cantonese, Thus, in addition to its 22 core courses, the Cantonese curriculum offers a wide selection of classes with religious themes. These courses are offered in separate curricula for Protestants and Catholics. Elective courses in 10 areas are also available. Teaching Approach To ensure a high standard of instruction, courses are limited to a maximum of eight students per class, thus enabling teachers to pay careful attention to the individual needs of each student. Furthermore, the instructional approach used is an innovative hybrid of language teaching methodologies, which Mr. Liu describes as 'a very unique system'. Its uniqueness derives from the fact that it borrows widely from various schools of thought on the teaching of languages, rather than relying rigidly on one particular approach. Basically, it is what Mr. Liu calls a 'combination approach' which blends such traditional systems of language teaching as the audio-lingual method (featuring the use of drills), the grammar-translation method (where students translate sentences and passages from one language to another with an emphasis on correct grammar), and the direct method (which stresses the use of Chinese as the leaching medium) with the currently popular communicative method (now used m Hong Kong's schools) m which students are taught how to communicate in real-life situations Origins The Language Centre's origins date back to 1963 ， when Parker Huang, a prominent developer of materials used in teaching Mandarin and Cantonese at Yale University, was invited by the founder, Jennie Ling, to be the firs t director of the centre which was then under the joint auspices of New Asia College and the Yale- in-China Association. In 1964, Jennie Ling herself became the director. During the next few years, when the centre was one of just two institutions in Hong Kong offering courses in Chinese as a foreign language (HKU was the other), the teaching staff consisted of just six Cantonese and four - Currently there are about 300 overseas students from 28 countries. - The centre has provided Mandarin courses for about 2000 CUHK students in 1989-90. - In addition to the director, assistant director and clerical staff, there are 17 full-time instructors and 20 part-time teachers. 4