Singapore Centre for Chinese Language

The establishment of Singapore Centre for Chinese Language (Abbreviation: SCCL; Chinese: 新加坡华文教研中心 ; pinyin: xīn jiā pō huá wén jiào yán zhōng xīn) was announced by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on 6 September 2008,[1] and was opened by Founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on 17 November 2009.[2][3] The Centre was established to position Singapore as a centre of excellence for the learning, teaching and educational research of the Chinese language in a bilingual context.

Jointly set up by the Ministry of Education (Singapore) and National Institute of Education, SCCL is an autonomous centre within Nanyang Technological University, Singapore,[4] signifying the best collaborative efforts of the Singapore government, its professional teachers' training institute and academia in Chinese language education.

Through the provision of quality training, SCCL strives to enhance the teaching literacy, competency and professionalism of Chinese language teachers. Apart from providing quality training for Chinese language teachers, it also focuses on research of teaching strategies. It leads and conducts research projects in collaboration with local primary and secondary schools in areas ranging from Chinese language pedagogies targeted at students from predominantly English-speaking backgrounds to infusion of information and communications technology (ICT) into Chinese lessons.

Training

Singapore Centre for Chinese Language started its in-service training courses in June 2009.[5] It aims to enhance the teaching literacy, competency and professionalism of Chinese language teachers. To date, SCCL has provided training for more than 30,000 Chinese language teachers.

To create further education opportunities for Chinese language teachers, SCCL and the University of Hong Kong jointly offer the Master in Teaching and Learning Chinese Language programme and the Doctor of Education in Research in Chinese Language Education programme. SCCL also collaborates with UniSIM and SEED Institute to offer the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Chinese Language Education programme. [6]

Research

Singapore Centre for Chinese Language is dedicated to research studies that are closely associated with the teaching and learning of Chinese language. Keeping in mind the “Research-Validate-Train (RVT)” spirit, SCCL develops innovative pedagogies and publishs academic books and teaching toolkits to meet the rising challenges in teaching and learning Chinese in Singapore. SCCL also strives to provide Chinese language teachers and students with resources, platforms and applications that cater to their daily teaching and learning needs.[7]

Publication

The NTU-SCCL Press was set up in May 2012 to further SCCL’s objectives of advancing research in Chinese Language pedagogy and promoting the development of Chinese language, culture and literature in Singapore. Its publications include academic books and monographs (pedagogy), journals, reference books, readers for children and teaching toolkits. In addition, the international-referred Journal of Chinese Language Education (JCLE) published by the SCCL and the Singapore Chinese Teachers’ Union (SCTU) has been officially on the list of journals under the prestigious Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index (CSSCI) (Overseas) since January 2014.[8]

International Conference on Teaching and Learning of Chinese as a Second Language

To promote research in the field of teaching and learning Chinese as a second language and to facilitate the application of research findings, SCCL has been organising International Conference on Teaching and Learning Chinese as a Second Language on a biennial basis since 2009.[9] The conference provides a platform for both local and overseas researchers, scholars and educators to share their research findings and teaching experiences. On 9 – 10 September 2015, SCCL held its 4th International Conference on the Teaching and Learning of Chinese as a Second Language at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. The conference attracted over 1,000 distinguished educators and frontline teachers from Singapore, Australia, Brunei, China, Denmark, England, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and United States of America.

References

  1. ↑ "李总理宣布华文教研中心明年成立". 联合早报网. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  2. ↑ "MM Lee wants learning of Chinese to be fun". news.asiaone.com. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  3. ↑ "MM Lee: Make Mandarin fun!". RazorTV. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  4. ↑ "Institutes & Centres". www.ntu.edu.sg. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  5. ↑ Lee, U-Wen (18 November 2009). "Make Mandarin interesting for children: MM". The Business Times.
  6. ↑ "A shot at upgrading for Chinese language teachers". news.asiaone.com. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  7. ↑ "Research & Development Projects". www.sccl.sg. Retrieved 2016-04-04.
  8. ↑ "JCLE Issues". www.sccl.sg. Retrieved 2016-04-04.
  9. ↑ "华文为"二语"教学研讨会本周举行 德国专家：要提升华语程度就得学汉字". 联合早报网. Retrieved 2016-04-04.

External links

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