英语学讲中国文化 Chinese Culture and Public Speaking

1st Class Session: 12:30pm - 1:50pm
2nd Class Session: 2:00pm - 3:30pm

5th Grade & Above

Chinese Culture and Public Speaking

5th grade and above

The Chinese Culture and Public Speaking class is a newly designed class at Newton Chinese Language School (NCLS). The goal of the class is to foster the learning of Chinese culture and public speaking skills in a dual-language classroom setting.The class expands horizons of traditional Chinese language schools, by focusing on China’s history and culture, rather than the Mandarin Chinese language alone. Since the class will be instructed in English, it is suitable for students that are not yet proficient in Chinese, including ones that do not speak Chinese at home. Naturally, students will be motivated to study Chinese the language to further their depth of learning as they advance the history, philosophy and other aspects of Chinese culture.
As we observe in many Chinese language schools, parents are the primary motivator in young children’s studying of Chinese. However, as the students advance to higher grade, Chinese class registration rate starts to decline as students override their parents’ desire for more advance learning. This Culture class will give a reason for students to pursue deeper and wider Chinese language learning, by encouraging students to talk about Chinese culture in public speaking situations, in debates, and in classroom discussions.
For young ethnic Chinese children growing up in the States, there are many challenges facing their racial and cultural identity: they identify culturally with mainstream USA, but the society often sees them in the ‘model minority’ stereotype, and the paradox of high expectations and low self-esteem often causes depression and other mental issues for 2nd and 3rd generation Chinese immigrants. It is the belief of this instructor, that the confidence derived from training in Chinese culture will go a long way in terms of improving the self-esteem of ethnic Chinese children.
The class will be instructed in ‘Harkness Table’ style, and it will be yet another bold attempt among Chinese language schools. Originated from the Socratic Method, and widely used in many prestigious private schools in the US, the method is credited to nurture deeper learning, improving students’ confidence and communication skills.

英语学讲中国文化

（5年级以上）

什么是中国文化？仅仅是中餐，舞狮和春节吗？美国大众的认识基本停留在这个水平。第二第三代华人移民即使有中文基础，对中国历史文化的了解也往往一知半解。

我从在美国二十多年的经历中体会到：从日常生活到职场，自己越是能把中国文化融会贯通，说清楚，越能受到尊重和认同。华人二代在美国的认同感危机很大程度上缘于比起父母来，缺少中国文化的底气。这门课通过教师引导讨论(Harkness Table Style), 演讲，辩论的方式来加强对中国文化的理解和阐述的能力。课堂鼓励学生用英文为主，中文为辅，从而达到文化，语言和演讲能力齐头并进的目的。更希望激发学生对中国文化的兴趣，以便和中文学习达到相辅相成的效果。

学生要求：五年级或以上，有做简单的搜索，Powerpoint, 和演讲的能力。

课程结构：课题-研究-讨论-演讲-辩论。教师每节课前宣布专题，学生通过独立或小组方式对每个专题研究，上课时以圆桌讨论，Powerpoint演讲，和集体辩论形式展开。

Teacher's Bio

Mr. Yang Li, the instructor for the Chinese Culture and Public Speaking class, immigrated to the US in the early 90’s. He received an MS degree in Computer Science from Vanderbilt University. Mr. Li has had a colorful experience in 20+ years in the US, from selling books door-to-door, to IT careers in various industry, to a selling career in the high-tech industry. Growing up in China, and well-read in his youth, Mr. Li has a solid foundation in Chinese history and culture, and along with communication and presentation skills honed in many years of professional selling, make Mr. Li an ideal candidate to teach the subject.