With the economic rise of China, there is global demand for effective teaching and learning of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL). There has been limited sustained success in Chinese language learning in Australian schools, however, and this has been attributed, amongst other factors, to pedagogy employed by teachers. Today, it is commonplace to understand that educational background influences teacher beliefs which in turn impact pedagogical transition in overseas teaching environments. This exploratory case study reports qualitative analysis of interviews with nine school teachers of CFL in New South Wales, Australia. The study mapped three groups of beliefs within the Chinese teacher group, namely, beliefs which align with principles of traditional Chinese education, beliefs which align with constructivist learning principles and beliefs in transition between. All teachers in the CFL teacher community of practice could be said to be in a fluid process of transition, to find new pedagogical identities and best practice. This study’s findings as to transitioning beliefs, and the study’s recommendations, are of significance in the design of more effective teacher training suitable to achieve successful learning outcomes in Chinese foreign language classrooms.15 page(s

This paper presents a comparative curricular inquiry of teacher education programs of Chinese as a foreign language in China and Australia. While there is an increasing demand for qualified Chinese language teachers both within China and Western countries, pre-service teacher training is regarded as one of the major factors in impeding success in effective student learning. Using an interpretative approach, this paper captures voices from teacher educators and pre-service teachers through in-depth interviews to supplement curriculum document reviews. The results identify curriculum differences in educational aims and objectives, learning content, methods of delivery and assessment. The study suggests aspects of curriculum which must be negotiated, in moving towards the internationalisation of the curriculum, to facilitate the mobility and adaptation required in overseas teaching contexts. The study ends with a discussion for urgent development of an internationalised curriculum of Chinese language teacher education and situated teacher education programs.

The population movement of globalization brings greater cultural and linguistic diversity (CALD) to communities and education systems. To address the growing diversity in school classrooms, beginning teachers need an expanded set of skills and attitudes to support effective learning. It is an expectation today that teachers know their students and how the students learn. It follows that lecturers and tutors should also know something of the cultural and linguistic profile of their pre-service teacher education students. This article reports a study in a university which examined its teacher education practice in this light. It assessed the curriculum provision of material related to cultural and linguistic diversity, the profile of the CALD characteristics of the undergraduate cohort, and attitudes and perceptions of the students, to teaching in a CALD classroom. The article considers initiatives that the teacher education program could introduce, to expand pre-service teacher capacities.

Language pedagogy in Australia, North America and Europe has been influenced in the past 20 years by a sociocultural understanding of language and culture, which has asked teachers to adopt an intercultural approach, integrating critical cultural reflection within language learning. Due to the diversity of backgrounds, however, different groups of teachers need to make sense of this new pedagogy using their own particular cultural lens. This paper examines the engagement of native-speaker teachers of (Mandarin) Chinese with the principles of intercultural language pedagogy. It is located within the context of calls for more successful learning of Chinese in Australian schools. Data derive from the implementation of a one-day course in intercultural language pedagogy for 20 native speaker teachers of Chinese. Pre- and post-course surveys and a number of interviews were analysed to identify teacher needs, and to track changes in understanding and intended practice. Findings demonstrate the positive impact of the intervention on teacher understanding and practice. They also raise the question of Western cultural assumptions inherent in the intercultural discourse approach, and its ability to include and address the perspectives and practices of Chinese teachers. They also highlight the need for more training to provide a cultural bridge between pedagogies.

This paper reports on how the cognitive, behavioural and affective communication competencies of undergraduate students were developed using an online Video Reflection system. Pre-service teachers were provided with communication scenarios and asked to record short videos of one another making presentations. Students then uploaded their videos to an online blog and made reflective comments about their communication actions. Students also provided reflective feedback to their peers, which was then used to inform their next presentation attempt. Student responses to a reflective questionnaire indicated that they felt the Video Reflection approach resulted in a significant improvement in their presentation capabilities. Qualitative feedback and online postings indicated that the Video Reflection process improved students' understanding of communication concepts. Students also reported reduction in communication anxiety and an increase in confidence as a result of the Video Reflection system, providing evidence for the interrelationship between the cognitive, behavioural and affective dimensions of communication.

We report the development of preservice teachers’ oral presentation performance based on a technology-mediated Video Reflection system. Participants video-recorded oral presentations and uploaded them to an online blog to view and reflect on their performance and that of their peers. Four presentations by forty-one participants were analysed using a range of criteria based on what we call the Modes of Communication (voice, body-language, words and alignment between them) and the Constructed Impression of the communication acts (confidence, clarity, engagement and appropriateness). Results indicate a significant improvement across all criteria with a decreased rate of improvement for later iterations.