About me

Teaching Philosophy

“授人以鱼，不如授人以渔” ——— 老子《道德经》

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

——— Laozi, Chinese philosopher

From my point of view, learning is acquisition of information or skills. Language learning is gaining listening, speaking, reading and writing skills to function and communicate in a target language context while building awareness of the culture. It involves active and conscious focus and action upon events. It requires practice. Learning language is not like riding a bicycle, it’s like owing a bicycle. You have to take care of it and perform constant maintenance, or else it will rust.

Teaching is guiding and facilitating learning, enabling the learner to learn, and setting the conditions for learning. Scholars have described a teacher’s role as a coach, a conductor, a linguist, a psychologist, a philosopher and anthropologist, a presenter, a designer, an organizer, a guide, a facilitator, a resource provider, a group process manager, a needs analyst, a discussion leader, and evaluator among others. I see my role as a pleasant and supportive companion on the journey to discover and explore a new language and culture. Although the time in class is limited, the time after class is not. I feel it is more important to open the door and lead the road for a short period of time and then let students explore. It will be ten times more effective if they know why they learn, how they learn, when to learn, where to find materials to learn and with whom they can practice and apply their knowledge to daily life.

As far as I am concerned, a perfect language class is communicative, active, effective and creative. My emphasis in the first several classes is always to create a warm, open, and accepting atmosphere. Learning about my students is my first procedure when I prepare my Chinese class. Different ages, gender, personality, self-esteem, motivations, and learning styles can lead to totally different learning situations. I use different strategies to design my class based on my audience. According to J.Reid, an individual has different natural, habitual and preferred way of absorbing, processing and retaining new information and skills. As a teacher, we need to offer a variety of motivating activities to facilitate learning, just like a chef offering a variety of dishes to make the meal nutritious. Games and role-playing as icebreaker activities have never disappointed in creating ideal classroom environments. They are the most effective ways to lower anxiety levels, break down barriers and promote cooperative and collaborative learning among peers in class. Laughter is very much encouraged in my class, but no one will laugh at others’ errors or mistakes when we learn a language. Assessment is used to track progress and expose problem areas for further action.

Charlie Chaplin swept the world with his silent films. I think an excellent teacher should also be a good director, actor or actress, because a dramatic performance can help boost students’ retention. Nonverbal communication including the voice, facial expression, gesture, eye contact, and arm movement is also a key way to transmit my message to my students. The right balance between use of Chinese and English is another important factor in conducting a successful class. I will make sure students understand me and at the same time maximize the use of the target language. If timing is the essence of a joke, the timing of giving feedback to the student is also crucial in foreign language teaching. Language is a trial and error process. If I correct the errors too quickly and too often, it is very discouraging, especially to beginners. But if I don’t give corrective feedback, it will result in confusion and further mistakes.

Learning to communicate in Chinese creates enormous opportunities to expand knowledge. Once the door is opened with basic communication skills, a new world of information is opened. In order to help them open this door, my classes are structured around the Standards for Chinese Language Learning. I always encourage my students to speak out and communicate as much as possible, performing dialogues and exchanging opinions [Standard 1.1, 1.3]. Language should be studied in its cultural context, and my lessons will also teach Chinese culture [2.1, 2.2]. With information highways and high technology, many other subjects and disciplines can be connected for students to acquire information and enhance problem solving skills [3.1, 3.2]. Through linguistic and cultural comparison, I help my students to compare two different languages and cultures and develop an open-minded attitude to culture differences and improve critical thinking ability [4.1, 4.2]. The final goal I want to achieve is to help students use Chinese beyond the classroom setting. I encourage students to make interpersonal relationships with the community, and gain personal enjoyment and enrichment through exposure to Chinese history including literature, art, music, opera, and dance. If possible, going abroad to study and use Chinese will be an eye-opening and transformative experience. [5.1, 5.2]

I believe that teaching is a two-way street and it can benefit both the teacher and the students. I enjoy advising and mentoring students and they often inspire me to have a closer look at my own language and culture and think critically. They motivate me to devote myself to share my knowledge with all who wish to learn about Chinese language and culture and to build bridges between other cultures and my own. Language is a shaper of ideas and way of thinking. It is a pathway to another culture.

I actively attend conferences, teaching seminars, training to gain knowledge and experience from other teachers and present my own view as a young teacher. I also get involved in acquiring new skills like computer science, film-making, script-writing, and photo designing to strengthen myself as a teacher. Teaching is a pure joy to me. I feel a strong sense of self-improvement and self-achievement when I teach. Students and teacher interact and improve, making efforts to reach the destination and achieve the goal. Teaching makes me feel like I add something positive to the community and student’s life. I want to work as a teacher and have all my students enjoy learning and explore the world better in my care.