What I’m reading now:

1. ICCLE, International Curriculum for Chinese Language Education, published by Han Ban.

What’s inside? A theoretical guideline for teaching Chinese.

What did I learn?

Han Ban have complied a clear guideline for teachers, of what learners should be able to do in Chinese (linguistic knowledge, linguistic skills, strategies and cultural awareness), from beginner to advanced level (Stages 1-5). They even outline over-arching themes, and recommended topics within these themes, although they do not attach these themes and topics to specific stages.

The book gives examples of subjects that can be taught, e.g., Name, Birthplace etc, and offers basic lesson plans. These Sample Arrangements include group work, role-play, games and debates, which certainly hint at what I would expect in a “Communicative Language Learning” classroom.

As well as providing a table for the teaching of Chinese Culture and Grammatical Items, Han Ban also include Sample Activities for Chinese Language Teaching (“detailed” lesson plans). However, there is only one lesson plan example for each Stage.

This book is a great starting point for schools and teachers of Chinese. However, as it is aimed primarily at those teaching Chinese outside of mainland China, I’m not sure how many China-based teachers know about this book, or how best to utilise it.