A Discussion On The Elective Courses Of Film And Television In The Short-term Chinese As A Foreign Language Class

In teaching Chinese as a foreign language,short-term intensive programs are characterized by higher efficiency than long-term programs.With the maturity of the short-term intensive class model,more and more students are choosing to participate in such programs to study Chinese in China.Well-known projects such as the "Princeton In Beijing"(PIB),jointly established by Princeton University and Beijing Normal University;Harvard Beijing Academy(HBA),jointly established by Harvard University and Beijing Language and Culture University;Columbia University and Tsinghua University Summer Program(CIB),and the Critical Language Scholarship Program(CLS)funded by the US State Department.The CLS Chinese program was based upon the well-known "Middlebury Model" and guided by the four evaluation criteria of the Oral Proficiency Interview(OPI),and taught via "Total Immersion." The program is characterized by small class sizes and intensive drills,and arranges different types of lessons for the learners,mainly drill courses,supplemented by elective courses and one-on-one instruction.The focal points of this study are:1.Was this a successful attempt to broaden the form of elective courses under the short-term intensive project model?2.Were the film and television resources effectively used to improve the spoken Chinese output of advanced class learners in this course?3.Did it effectively complement the Chinese cultural knowledge in this curriculum?This article takes the 2019 CLS program Xi'an site advanced-level film elective-course as its case study,analyzing the overall design and teaching process of the course,focusing on discussing the positive role of film resources for short-term high-intensity Chinese language training of advanced-level learners with regards to improving oral expression,specifically reflected in the informal expression can be decent,fluent,authentic expression and communication,and then reflect on teaching based on actual feedback,try to discuss improvement plans.The full text is divided into four parts,with the first providing the background and significance of the research,and related research(both foreign and domestic)is summarized.The body of research on short-term high-intensity training programs contains many more studies on the project model,as well as training course types and topic settings,but less research on elective courses that supplement and strengthen the primary courses.Currently,many colleges and universities offer film and television courses,but the primary learners are long-term Chinese-language students;therefore,the syllabus,teaching goals,and teaching mode of film courses in such programs are still quite different from short-term high-intensity Chinese training programs.The body of scholarship on the usage of film and television courses under the short-term intensive program model is almost completely devoid of anything substantial.The second part briefly introduces the CLS project and management model,and then elaborates upon the design concept and specific practical arrangements of film elective courses,including pre-class preparation,classroom teaching activities and examination methods.The third part is an analysis of the course's effectiveness based on actual studentprovided feedback,focusing on the role of film in improving short-term learners' oral expression and supplementing the cultural knowledge imparted in the short-term intensive model.Feedback from the students is presented,followed by a summary of reflections on the teaching itself and the deficiencies that arise during said teaching.The fourth part puts forward a five-point outline of teaching suggestions based upon the feedback of students,the author's teaching reflections,and discussions with other teachers.These suggestions were drawn up specifically to address the unique challenges of short-term intensive program elective courses with a primary objective of improving the spoken language level of advanced learners.The hope is to provide some insightful ideas for film electives class for short-term intensive programs such as the CLS program.The final part is an example of a course outline drawn up by the author based on the principles of selecting movies proposed in Chapter 3 of this article and the practical experience of this course.It includes a brief introduction of the outline and the outline of a movie called "Dying to Survive".