Chinese Langauge Teaching And Learning In Australian Primary And Secondary Schools

The populations, economies and cultures of Chinese societies rank among the largest, most dynamic and most significant in the world. In Australia, governments at all levels now recognize the importance of Chinese-speaking countries to the country. Australia is well positioned both geographically and strategically to take advantage of the rapid growth among all the Chinese regions in the neighborhood.My thesis aims to form a comprehensive picture of the perception and popularity of the Chinese language in Australian schools, research Australia's historical and present language policies and practices concerning Chinese, find out the current importance of the Chinese language in Australia's education system, and look into the situation of Chinese language teaching in Australian schools with the following three aspects as my key research areas:1) A historical review of Chinese language education in Australian schools for different periods in its development. Statistics concerning the popularity of Chinese language learning in Australian schools will be collected, including schools teaching Chinese, students learning Chinese, Chinese language teachers and Chinese immigrants; 2) Today's Chinese language education in Australian schools. The status quo of Chinese language education in Australian schools will be described from a microscopic perspective and the following key education elements are to be researched:policy and funding, students, schools, teachers, projects and programs.3) Driving factors in China. The updated initiatives by the Hanban (China's National Office in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language) concerning the promotion of Chinese language in Australia will be collected and categorized, as well as efforts made by tertiary education institutions in China. As the conclusion, challenges of current Chinese language teaching and learning in Australian schools will be located and suggestions to better improve the teaching and learning outcomes will be given accordingly.Chinese language education debuted in the formal Australian schools in the 1960s and welcomed a major upsurge from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s. During the last decade, there has been a steady increase in the number of students taking Chinese language despite ups and downs in Australian government support concerning Asian languages. The past three years witnessed a strong presence of the Hanban in promoting Chinese language overseas. Although currently there are problems from teaching quality to education planning existing in Chinese language education in Australia, it is believed that there are great potential for the language to go future due to the significant Sino-Australia bond in economy and immigration.