Download the Teaching approaches document and look at the examples.
Pick one of the approaches. Choose one that you have used in your class before. If you have not used any of the approaches, choose one that interests you.
Write a review of the approach to share with your colleagues on the course. Make sure you answer the questions below:
What approach did you choose?
How useful do you think the approach will be for teaching IGCSE Mandarin Chinese?
Which topics does this type of approach work well for? Give your reasons.
Which topics does this type of approach not work well for? Give your reasons.
How do you integrate this approach into your teaching?
(The above information is cited from the Introduction to the Cambridge IGCSE Mandarin Chinese (Foreign Language) (0547) Course)
What approach did you choose?
Self-regulation and metacognition strategies:
Self-regulation and metacognition strategies work through learners monitoring and evaluating their own learning strategies. Some necessary components for successful metacognitive strategies might include:
Explicit teaching of metacognitive strategies.
Teachers modelling their own thinking to demonstrate metacognitive strategies.
Opportunities for pupils to reflect on and monitor their strengths and areas of improvement, and plan how to overcome current difficulties.
Providing enough challenge for learners to develop effective strategies, but not so difficult that they struggle to apply a strategy.
How useful do you think the approach will be for teaching IGCSE Mandarin Chinese?
These strategies encourage students to take ownership of their learning by setting goals, monitoring their progress, and reflecting on their performance. In Mandarin, where students face challenges in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, self-regulation helps them identify specific areas to focus on and strategies to improve. Metacognitive practices, like reflecting on which tones or characters are challenging, can deepen their understanding and enable them to develop personalized approaches to language acquisition.
Which topics does this type of approach work well for? Give your reasons.
Listening and Speaking Practice:These skills improve when students reflect on their performance. They can set goals for speaking clearly, using correct tones, and understanding what they hear. By listening to their recordings and checking their pronunciation or tone, they can identify areas to improve and see their progress.
Reading and Writing Characters:Learning Chinese characters involves memorization, and metacognition helps students find the best techniques for remembering them, like using pictures, repeating, or making memory tricks. Self-regulated learning also helps students plan study time for characters and check their memory regularly.
Grammar and Sentence Structure:This area improves with regular self-assessment. Students can set goals to learn new grammar rules and practice building sentences. By checking how well they’re using grammar, they can adjust their study habits to get better.
How do you integrate this approach into your teaching?
Goal-Setting & Reflection: Students set goals each unit, revisiting them regularly for progress checks.
Self-Assessment Checklists: After speaking or writing tasks, students rate their performance for improvement.
Learning Journals: Students reflect on their study methods and challenges.
Guided Practice with Feedback: I guide students in evaluating their work, fostering independent self-monitoring.
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