A soon-to-be released study of enrollments in Mandarin classes in Australia has yet more evidence that the much hyped craze for Mandarin learning isn’t what it might seem to be (as I keep saying). <\/p>\n
In Australia, by the final year of senior high school, 94% of those who began to study Mandarin sometime earlier have dropped the subject, and 94% of the relatively small group who remain are ethnically Chinese, resulting in a situation in which “the teaching and learning of Chinese in Australia is overwhelmingly a matter of Chinese teaching Chinese to Chinese.”<\/p>\n
Things don’t get much more direct than that. <\/p>\n
From a newspaper story that quotes the report:<\/p>\n
Unless the drop-out rate is tackled, “there seems little point in planning to expand the number of students starting Chinese at school”.<\/p>\n
The report attributes the drop-out rate to three factors. Students studying Chinese as a second language are “overwhelmed” in assessments by “strong numbers” of students who have Chinese as a first language.<\/p>\n
Second, they don’t develop sufficient proficiency because of the difficulty in learning Chinese and the inadequate time set aside for it.<\/p>\n
Finally, they are trying to learn Chinese “in an often unsupportive environment at school, in their family, and in the community”.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The report, by Dr. Jane Orton of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at Melbourne University, will be presented to a forum late this month on Mandarin language education. I’ll post more once I’ve had a chance to read it. <\/p>\n
Thanks to Victor Mair for alerting me to this. <\/p>\n
source: <\/p>\n
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- Demand for Asia study overhaul<\/a>, the Age<\/em>, October 12, 2008<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
further reading: <\/p>\n
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- Chinese Language Programs in Australia: 94% Drop-Out Rate<\/a>, the Lingua Franca, October 13, 2008<\/li>\n
- foreign languages in NZ secondary schools<\/a>, Pinyin News, September 6, 2008<\/li>\n
- UK degree-program enrollments in foreign languages<\/a>, Pinyin News, August 21, 2008<\/li>\n
- US post-secondary enrollments in foreign languages and the position of Mandarin<\/a>, Pinyin News, August 18, 2008<\/li>\n
- U.S. college language enrollments<\/a>, Language Log, August 21, 2008 (about the Pinyin News post above)<\/li>\n
- Results of US AP exams: first year for Mandarin, Japanese<\/a>, Pinyin News, February 14, 2008<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A soon-to-be released study of enrollments in Mandarin classes in Australia has yet more evidence that the much hyped craze for Mandarin learning isn’t what it might seem to be (as I keep saying). In Australia, by the final year … Continue reading