How Can Non-Native Chinese Students Become More Interested in Learning Chinese?

Li Yuanyuan, Mandarin Dual Language Teacher in DUCKS

Encouragement and Praise 

Praise is one of the simplest and most powerful tools to engage and motivate your students. When used effectively, praise can transform behaviour challenges and improve students’ attitudes to learning. Maybe every teacher will say, "I often praise my students”, but how effective is the praise that we are giving and what impact is it having on our children’s learning?  

Firstly, let’s consider the words that we are using. We often say “good” or “great” out of default, however, if these words are used too often then they will lose their impact. For example, no matter how much you love chocolate cake, you would not enjoy it so much if you ate it every day! With this in mind, in order to stimulate students, the teacher should praise in different ways and include all abilities when doing so.  

Praise is usually used when a student responds to a question. It is vital that the teacher’s questions are within the scope of the student’s ability so that the student has the chance to succeed. If a student who lacks confidence answers a question, the teacher can use praise by saying something such as “Look, I knew you could do it! Your answer is exactly right – continue to believe in yourself!”. After a period of persistence, the student’s interest in learning Chinese will change. It is important to remember that the praise process is about encouraging and acknowledging the student’s efforts, not just their academic ability. This is known as the Aronson Effect in the psychology of encouragement (Wen, Shisong, 1997). 

For example, when a beginner student of Chinese is having trouble writing, the teacher can praise by saying, "Did you write this? Is it true? I am so happy." At the same time, we should put ourselves in the student's point of view and we could say: “You must feel tired, you should rest for a while and then write. Can you write more beautifully? I’m waiting for you to give me a surprise.” This way, the student will try to do better, because he wants to prove himself through the teacher's affirmation. This is similar to adults who receive their boss's affirmation and feel flattered. In some cases, you can also say: “If you try harder, you can catch up with your teacher. One day, you will surpass your teacher.” 

Secondly, we must praise sincerely and wholeheartedly.  It is not enough just to change the language, but also to infuse our feelings into one’s words. The same speech but spoken differently either can move someone to tears or have no effect.  

The reason is simple: speech when delivered sincerely and wholeheartedly can elicit a wealth of emotion. Praise in the same way, must be from the heart. For example, when a student who does not like learning Chinese says a Chinese phrase, even just a word, the teacher should react with great excitement, surprise, as if discovering a new continent.  

Aim to give praise excitedly to encourage students as this helps them to do better. This way, the teacher's reaction can be fully felt by the students. This kind of praise is mainly reflected in the following points: 

• Voice processing: use a voice that is different from usual speech, mainly one with excitement and surprise 
• Tone level: to vary the tone with ups and downs 
• Sound and emotion: changes in facial expressions, movements and gestures should correspond with the emotions expressed 

And, most importantly, make sure you are moved yourself before you try to move others. In this way, this effects praise that becomes contagious. 

Thirdly, praise first, then pay attention to whether the answer is correct. As briefly mentioned earlier, the praise process is about encouraging and acknowledging the student’s efforts, not just their academic ability. Whether an answer is correct or not is of little importance compared to someone’s level of confidence. According to psychologist William James, the deepest human need is the desire to be appreciated and admired (Feldman, Robert S., et al, 2013). 

When a hopeful student raises his or her hand to answer a question and is met with “incorrect” by the teacher, it may affect their confidence, and the very least their confidence in learning Chinese.  

A child whose first language is not Chinese should be able to actively participate in classroom activities. We must protect this confidence. So, what should teachers do? First of all, the teacher should give them encouragement and praise for their positive attitude in answering questions. Then in a way that students can accept, tell them gently when they do not have the right answer, and then encourage them to continue to work hard, believing that they will be able to answer correctly next time. 

Innovation is easy, persistence is not easy. The above is what every teacher can do, but it is often hard to maintain. Nevertheless, we should always remind ourselves: we are like gardeners cultivating the flowers of the future and we must live up to what being a teacher is. 

Inspire Competition 

You may believe that learning is not a competition, however, it is hard to deny that during a competition, students’ attention tends to be higher than usual. Healthy competition can be created in many ways. Teachers can set each student a small goal that suits them and they can compete with themselves. Give everyone a simple pyramid of words and see how long it takes to read from the bottom to the top. Competition with oneself is beneficial to stimulate a student’s autonomous learning ability. This is what University of Chicago psychologist Michael Mihaly studies as "overflowing" behaviour (Wen, Shisong, 1997). 

Below is an example of an alternative competition style between teacher and student. 

In a teacher-student competition, teachers and students will form respective groups and learn names of body parts. Before the competition, it is explained that the teacher will teach the names of each body part twice. If a student can answer correctly, the student group will get one point, otherwise, the teacher group will get one point. In this way, students will try their best to memorise before the competition and more effectively tap their inner potential.  

In addition, the group points system can also be another format. Occasionally, there will be some students who will get by because of the group’s merit. This is where the teacher comes into play and attention must be paid to observe each student, to give encouragement in time, and even remind repeatedly. You'll see a significant increase in their willingness to answer questions and their ability to absorb new knowledge. Just as the famous British Educator Herbert Spencer said, “The purpose of education is to make children live happily, so in the process of education, children should also be happy” (Sibinsai, and Yingying Huo, 2017).  

As a teacher, we must firmly believe that every student has potential. And in the end, the student team will emerge the winner. This pleasure of winning will greatly increase one’s interest in learning. 

Finally, it is worth noting that no matter what the competition, students should not feel frustrated. Challenges must match the students’ abilities and teachers need to give timely evaluation with encouragement, using different ways and methods to deal with different personalities and abilities of different students. The main goal is to make them more interested in learning Chinese. 

The Teacher's Passion for Teaching 

Every teacher has experienced his or her time as a student and recall when they took classes with their favourite teachers. A teacher's passion is very important if they want students to like them. Psychology research shows that passion is a strong and short emotional state. Only when students have passionate participation can they have desire (Zhang, Dianfu,1996). Ron L Clark, a famous American teacher, once said:  

"The classroom should be a place full of passion (Ron L. Clark., and Wenying Li, 2015)." So how do you make Chinese lessons more exciting? 

First of all, as a teacher, you must love your job. Love and passion will transfer to the students and drive their motivation to learn. Teachers should feel organised in the classroom and from time to time, create a little humour to excite and stimulate their students. 

Secondly, the teacher is very important to the curriculum design. Music can help students memorise knowledge points and drive the atmosphere. Music can also inspire students to learn. There should be music in every class. For example, when teaching the theme of "country", you can put all countries together into a song, and the children can sing catchy, easy to remember songs or chants. Similarly, this can be applied to any subject. There should be something different in each lesson, not just music but some happy and exciting things that students can look forward to in Chinese class. Such as magic boxes, crafts, games, musical Instruments, role playing and so on. 

In addition, students can participate in a class with passion, which is closely related to the relationship between teachers and students. So, what role should teachers play? Some people might think that a teacher is just a teacher who imparts knowledge. No, a teacher should play the multiple roles of teacher, friend, mother and father. When playing games, the teacher can be like a child and play with a carefree spirit and joy. When you teach new knowledge, you have to think of the best way to teach it. One thing to remember here is that teachers should try not to sit down in class as this will affect your enthusiasm. When the students need help, we have to care for them like a loving parent. When they become disengaged, guide them. In this way, students will fully trust the teacher, and that trust will soon become love. 

All in all, through music, art, games, stories, performances and other methods, teachers can inspire students' sense of competition in the learning process. Through proper encouragement and praise, students will be more interested in learning Chinese. 

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