Dear Frances Weightman,
I am wondering what are the requirments for being a Mandarin tutor in
university? Would you please be kind to provide some informations or
suggestions?
Many thanks!
Lingwei
Chinese Language Assistant
>From: Frances Weightman <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Mandarin Chinese Teaching
<[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Chinese at university
>Date: Thu, 9 Feb 2006 08:49:00 -0000
>
>Dear all
>
>
>
>Just to add to Oliver's comments from the universities' perspective.
>
>
>
>I teach at Leeds University (still, as far as I know, the largest
>Chinese course in the UK) and am also a council member of the British
>Association of Chinese Studies. I am sure that all university admissions
>tutors would absolutely endorse Robert Chard's comments: a GCSE (or any
>other qualification in Chinese) would only be evidence of an applicant's
>commitment to the study of the language and would in no way prejudice
>against admission (it may have been the case some years ago, but things
>really have changed since then).
>
>
>
>Moreover, in my own surveys of Leeds' students, around half of the
>intake each year have some background in the language, whether formal
>training, or (more often) a year or two spent teaching English in China.
>We are therefore (as I'm sure are all university departments) very used
>to having a mixed level for the first few weeks of term. In our
>experience, however, because of the intensity of language classes that
>students attend, most of the differences even out fairly quickly.
>
>
>
>At Leeds there has always been the option of skipping the first
>semester, and from next year we will have options for fast-tracking
>level 1 to provide more flexibility in the system. I understand from the
>recent council meeting that most other departments are doing similar
>things - we are always receptive to suggestions from schools, though, so
>please do pass any on.
>
>
>
>I hope this can help reassure if anyone is concerned about encouraging
>pupils to apply for further study of Chinese. We would be delighted to
>have more applications from your students!!
>
>
>
>Best wishes
>
>Frances Weightman
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Mandarin Chinese Teaching
>[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Oliver
>Kramer
>Sent: 08 February 2006 19:23
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Chinese at university
>
>
>
>Dear all,
>
>
>
>as you are aware, all British universities offering Chinese teach the
>language ab initio, that is, they do not cater for students with prior
>knowledge of Chinese. As most courses have a heavy emphasis on the
>acquisition of spoken and written Chinese, the exclusion of native
>speakers made some sense (leaving aside the question of fairness), and
>with hardly any non-background speakers having previous knowledge of
>Chinese, there was also no need for a university course beginning at
>advanced level, unlike, say, French and German for which most
>universities require a successful A level in the respective subject.
>
>
>
>Seeing that Chinese is gaining in popularity, particularly among
>non-native speakers, my concern has been that a successful GCSE
>candidate might be discriminated against when applying for a place to
>read Chinese at university; anecdotal evidence seemed to confirm that.
>Some of you may share these concerns, and that is why I am quite happy
>to pass on to the list the replies I have received very recently from
>admission officers and lecturers, also underlining the recognition
>Chinese is gaining as a subject in secondary education.
>
>
>
>SOAS, University of London, introduced a "fast-track" course for
>students with prior knowledge of up to 500 characters.
>
>A lecturer at the University of Edinburgh informed me that taking the
>GCSE course is seen as showing commitment to the subject and therefore
>beneficial to an application. And most encouraging, I received the
>following line from Dr Chard at Oxford University, which (legal
>disclaimer) is not official policy but his privately expressed opinion;
>however, he was happy to give me permission to quote him to this list:
>
>
>
>"To answer your question, we are positively prohibited from
>discriminating against any student with prior experience of Chinese, and
>now often take people with exam results at various levels. We are having
>to make special arrangements for those with strong language background
>when they start (requiring them to do the course in 3 years instead of
>4, or doing an additional language (Korean, Tibetan), but a GCSE
>wouldn't put them in that category.
>
>In short, doing the GCSE will make no difference to how their
>applications will be considered."
>
>It is good to see that university departments are aware of the
>development of the subject, and I hope this will also be heartening news
>to you.
>
>Best wishes,
>
>
>
>Oliver
>
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