Exploring Task-Based PBL in Chinese Teaching and Learning

Xiangyun Du · Mads Jakob Kirkebæk

nov 2012 · Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Acerca de este libro electrónico

This book is based on educational research conducted by the Confucius Institute for Innovation and Learning at Aalborg University. It aims to bridge the gap between the traditional methods of teaching Chinese and the student-centred learning method in a non-native context such as Denmark. The establishment of a conceptual framework for Task-Based PBL offers an alternative approach that encourages innovative teaching practices and promotes research-based teaching in language education. Empirically, this book reports how teachers designed and conducted tasks, how the classroom setting was affected, and how students evaluated the course. Teachers’ reflections and recommendations are included, along with 20 ready-to-use tasks developed by our teachers to disseminate our experiences and methods with a broad range of teachers, students and educational contexts.

This book suggests that the effectiveness of new teaching methods and the initiation of new subjects are contextual. Learning a foreign language (e.g. Chinese) is more than language acquisition; it is also understanding other cultures and participating in intercultural interaction and communication. Thus, education and learning (particularly a foreign language) is related to a broader social transformation in the process of globalisation and in the development towards a knowledge society.

Acerca del autor

XiangYun Du, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Learning and Philosophy and Director of the Confucius Institute for Innovation and Learning, Aalborg University, Denmark. Her research and publication focuses on innovative teaching and learning in education, particularly, problem-based and project-based learning methodology in diverse fields such as engineering education, medical education and language education, as well as in diverse social, cultural and educational contexts.

Mads Jakob Kirkebæk, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Learning and Philosophy, Aalborg University, Denmark. His research and publication focuses on Chinese-Danish history, and the development of teaching methods for educators teaching Chinese as a foreign language in a Danish context, in particular, Chinese character teaching.