Learning Languages Newsletter September 2012

NEWSLETTER Vol-3 | 20. September 2012

Priority Learners in New Zealand Schools

German Inter-school Drama

Chinese Teachers Workshop

French Speech Competition

Chinese Cultural Language Ambassador

The Education Review Office (ERO) has recently published the second report of their Evaluation at a Glance series.

This year’s Oskar competition was held on Tuesday 11 September in the welcoming auditorium of Villa Maria College.

More than 50 teachers have participated in “Introduction to the Intercultural Communicative Language Teaching (iCLT)” workshops

59 of the best French language students (Years 7 to 10) compete at Saint Kentigern College.

At the start of 2012, Annelise Posthuma was chosen for the position of Chinese Language and Culture Ambassador to ocal Schools in Canterbury.

Read more here

Read more here

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Read more here

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Evaluation at a Glance:

Teacher Professional Development Languages (TPDL) is available to lan-

Priority Learners in New Zealand Schools

guage teachers throughout New Zealand and offers an excellent opportunity to gain an internationally recognised

The Education Review Office (ERO) has recently

language qualification and receive ac-

published the second report of their Evaluation at a Glance series. ERO is an independent government department which regularly reports on schools’ performance.

The current edition as identified three key issues

creditation in language teaching. For more information have a look at the TPDL website or email tpdl@auckland.ac.nz or phone 09 623 8899 ext 46302 TPDL can help you to:

in our education system which are unhelpful to

 be a more effective teacher of languages

New Zealand’s priority learners (the lowest per-

 improve your proficiency in a language or begin to learn a new language

forming school students):

 understand and apply Learning Languages as in the NZ Curriculum  take a leadership role in Learning Languages

1.

Shifting the focus to student-centred learning, Teaching as Inquiry and

 sit an internationally recognized language examination

responding to students’ needs. The most effective schools in this area are highly supportive of teacher professional learning.

2.

Knowledgeably implementing a responsive and rich curriculum, where

Hutt Valley High student wins trip to Germany

cultural and ethnic identities are acknowledged and celebrated.

3.

Using assessment information to know about, and plan for, students’

Hutt Valley High School student Dexter Tauvao (Year 13) has recently returned

learning. There is an urgent need for us to address the achievement of our

from the third Internationale Deutscholympiade in Frankfurt, Germany. He was

priority students.

one of two New Zealand students that gained a German scholarship to attend. 94

For more information and to read the full report, please visit the ERO website.

students from 50 countries competed for the title of best German language student in the world. Read more on stuff.co.nz

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fairy tale characters. In another sketch the abolition of

Oskar Inter-school German Drama 2012

the euro caused difficulties when it was found that the only available toilet would accept only euro coins. A

This year’s Oskar competition was held on Tuesday 11 September in the welcoming auditorium of Villa Maria College. Seven groups coming from five schools took part.

The total number of students was fewer than usual: 87, the drop being caused by the unfortunate clash of one school’s examination week with the date of the com-

group with the clever name “Zwei Richtungen” (Two Directions) displayed their musical as well as dramatic talents, and we witnessed the final of a quiz show which

petition. The increased pressure of curriculum demands on senior classes was also

The results were as follows:

evident in that, although this event was open to all levels, six of the groups were

 Special prize for dramatic talent: Die Geister from Burnside

Year 10 level, the other from Year 11. That did not detract from the keen competition, however: the atmosphere was extremely warm and positive. There was a real buzz from the very outset. The line to be incorporated in this year’s sketches was:

Copyright Volker Matten

offered the major prize of a trip to New Zealand.

High School (Year 10)

 Special prize for political understanding: Die Zimpfel from Villa Maria College (Year 11)

 Special prize for musical talent: Zwei Richtungen from Christ’s Colleg (Year 10)

Mensch! Wo hast du das denn her? - (Wow! Where did you get that from?)

which as usual led to a very wide range of situations for the entertainment of the

 Mini-Oskar: Die Auβenseiterinnen from Rangi Ruru Girls’ School (Year 10)

 Mini-Oskar: Die falsche Richtung from Christ’s College (Year

audience.

10)

The adjudicators (Judith Geare, head of the Langauge Department at the GoetheInstitut, Laura Matten, Cultural Attachée from the German Embassy and Bernd Schliephake, National German Adviser) commented on the very high and very even

 Mini-Oskar for runners-up: Die Grimmkinder from Villa Maria

Copyright Volker Matten

College

 Oskar trophy for 1st place: Die Haribos from Avonside Girls’ High School.

standard of the plays, which of course made their task quite a difficult one.

The winning sketch was entitled Stimmt’s – oder nicht?

The line found itself in very different contexts: disobedient students were lost in a

(Correct – or not?). The judges commended this group

forest disturbed by a mysterious ghost, a box turned out to be a time machine, and

for their excellent pronunciation, and said they could hear

pages of the Grimm Brothers’ stories were mixed up, leading to a jumbled array of

and understand every word spoken.

It was particularly pleasing to see such a large number of parents and friends who had braved atrocious weather conditions to be there supporting the performers. It

Copyright Volker Matten

seemed that everyone went away smiling. by Lorraine Gray

Copyright Volker Matten

Study in Germany

Successful Chinese Teachers Workshops

Did you know? Most German public Universities do not charge tuition fees, not for domestic students, nor for international students.

Additionally, many programmes are now offered in English Language and New Zealand citizens can easily attain study/work visas. Plus scholarships are available too.

The Confucius Institute at the University of Canterbury (CIUC) has hosted a series of Chinese teachers workshops in the South Island of New Zealand.

This is a fantastic opportunity, to travel overseas and experience a different culture. Have a look at the German Academic Exchange Service. It provides all the information you need to apply.

So far more than 50 participants from local schools and institutions attended these workshops. Many teachers agree that this kind of training is beneficial for both teachers and schools in developing Chinese teaching and learning in the local

Brothers Grimm story-writing competition

areas. More seminars on Chinese characters, vocabulary and grammar will be offered by CIUC during the second half of 2012. Ms Wang Yu, National Chinese language Adviser (ILEP) was the lecturer for the first section at one of these work-

This year is the 200th anniversary of the Brothers Grimm’s book of fairy tales. The winners of the Brothers Grimm story-writing competition by have

shops with the topic: “Introduction to the Intercultural Communicative Language Teaching (iCLT)”. Contact Yu Wang for more information on: Chinese@ilep.ac.nz

now been published: 

Winner: The Cry Baby, by Renata Hopkins of Christchurch



Runner-up: Little Red Riding Hood Does Over the Big Bad Wolf



Runner-up: Evil Fairy Tales

The feedback: “Very well done! Thank you very much!”

“It’s great way to share ideas with colleagues and update out language teaching ideologies. Thank you very much!”

Photos of the Award night in Wellington are available on Facebook.

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Years 7 to 10 French Speech Competitions

Chinese Language and Culture Ambassador

This year’s French speech

At the start of 2012, Annelise Posthu-

competitions were organ-

ma was chosen for the position of Chi-

ised by Pascale McMillan

nese Language and Culture Ambassa-

(HOD/ teacher of French)

dor to local Schools in Canterbury. She

and Leslie Jouglat (ILEP

is eager to share her language skills

French language assistant)

with students in her area and tries to

and took place at Saint

convey the importance of understand-

Kentigern College.

ing other cultures and languages.

Nine different schools sent 59 of their best French language students

We have asked her to tell us more

(Years 7 to 10) from Botany, Mangere, North Shore and Papakura to com-

about herself:

pete against their peers.

Language learning has opened up a

Prizes for the category winners were donated by the French Embassy.

whole new world of possibilities and experiences for me. It has connected me to a

The judges were Sue Read (Sancta Maria College), Glenda Palmer (National

culture totally different from my own and I have formed many special relation-

Adviser French) and Doug Anderson (HOH languages SKC).

ships that will last for years to come. I started learning Chinese in 2010 at Canter-

Lunch was served in typical French style: Sandwich au jambon/fromage et un Orangina.

bury University because I was interested in understanding the Chinese culture better so I could form better relationships with Chinese in New Zealand. But as my interest and skill level has increased my goal is to teach Chinese language in

This was the 3rd year Pascale has run with this initiative for our junior students It provided an excellent forum for students to connect with the wider French learning community and their peers in other

New Zealand schools. I have only just begun my journey on the PLD pathway for learning languages, but even as an undergraduate student at the University of Canterbury I have had a unique opportunity to begin my journey through the Arts Internship programme with the Confucius Institute at the University of Canterbury.

schools. ...continued on next page

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...continued My role involved investigating which schools to approach, making initial contact with them, and then if they showed interest going into those schools and running a Chinese taster class or a cultural activity. I worked alongside the teachers at the Confucius Institute to explore the best ways to go about this project, and they offered me countless resources to use in my classes.

After drafting a list of possible schools to contact I chose to first contact the school that I attended, Middleton Grange School. I did this by personally contacting one of the language teachers there that I knew well. He helped me to get permission to come in and run a number of taster classes with year 7 and year 9 pupils. At this stage I had to prepare a taster class that would be new to them, fun and stir their interest in Chinese language and culture. I spent a number of hours preparing this class and was able to first use it Burwood School where I taught two classes of 5-8 year olds. The class that I prepared and taught started with an interactive discussion about Chinese culture. Following this I introduced some basic Chinese phrases that we used to play some games with to cement the learning. The rest of the lesson consisted of a Chinese paper cutting craft and a performance by myself on a traditional Chinese instrument, the Hulusi. The students were all very interested in my programme and asked lots of encouraging questions about the language and culture.

A number of weeks after running this programme at Middleton Grange School I was invited to attend meeting with the curriculum board to discuss the advantages of learning Chinese and the possible obstacles that would have to be overcome for the school to offer Chinese as part of their curriculum. ...continued on next page

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...continued

I arranged to bring along with me the President of the New Zealand Chinese Language Teachers Association in Christchurch and current Chinese teacher at St. Margaret’s College, Jian Chen. We meet the curriculum board together and put forward a case for offering Chinese. Finally, after deliberation the school is now pursuing offering Chinese language as part of their 2013 curriculum, provided they find a suitable teacher. This process has been a great success for my project and has given me a lot of valuable experience and inside knowledge to help me on my way towards teaching Chinese in the future.

There have also been disappointments throughout this project too. Unfortunately it seems that there is a lot of ignorance towards learning languages and especially Chinese language in many schools in New Zealand. It is my hope that more

This was a really great experience for me as I learnt the importance of teaching culture and language together and allowing students to ask questions and discover for themselves the language and culture that they are learning. This is something that I really hope I can put into practice in the future.

schools would see the importance of learning Chinese language and culture, espe-

This year I had the opportunity to participate in the International Tertiary Stu-

cially since there is a growing Chinese community in New Zealand that is often

dents Chinese Bridge Speech Competition semi-finals in China. This was my first

ignored due to the lack of understanding of their culture. Children who learn lan-

trip to China and was a whirlwind experience! I got to experience the feeling of

guages are much more open minded towards other cultures and more accepting

being in a totally different environment and having to use Chinese language to

of cultural differences. I hope that more schools would jump at the opportunity to

communicate everyday. This experience helped me to better understand the Chi-

offer language classes as part of their curriculum. In this way children will be

nese culture and to gain my own personal experience that I could share with pu-

better able to understand the country they live in and also the world they live in.

pils in the taster classes I have been running.

Since I am still an undergraduate student I haven’t progressed far on the profes-

I hope to graduate at the end of 2012 with a major in Chinese. In 2013 I plan to

sional learning pathway but I thought I would add a few experiences I have had.

complete a graduate teaching diploma (secondary) and then begin to teach Chi-

In August I had the privilege of attending the Chinese iCLT Workshop run by the National Chinese Language Advisor, Yu Wang.

nese language in New Zealand schools. I would also like to have the opportunity at some point to spend an extended time living in China to progress my learning further.

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Coming Up ...

Key Contacts and Links Advisory Support



Chinese Moon festival also called Mid-Autumn Festival, coming up on 30. September



Haiku & Shodo Competition 2012 In the Haiku & Shodo competition learners of Japanese language (year 10-13) will express themselves in a Japanese Haiku poem and get a chance to experience traditional Japanese calligraphy. Entries close: Friday, 21. September.



German Language Short Film Fest 2012 This year’s film competition for high school and university students is open for entries. Closing date for all entries is Friday, 28. September.



Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Appointments for 2013 Applications for Language Assistants close on 28. September.



tance for a language proficiency course.

Applications close 30. September.

NZQA Best Practice Workshops for Languages   

National Coordinators for Learning Languages, Secondary Student Achievement Contract, focus on effective implementation of the New Zealand Curriculum and the NCEA realigned achievement standards as well as the development of literacy and language practices.  

Northern & Central Regions please contact: Dee Edwards.

Southern & Central South Regions please contact: Jo Guthrie

NZALT, The New Zealand Association of Language Teachers offers a nationwide network to support language teachers, including regional meetings, professional development, awards, newsletters, conferences and advocacy on key issues.

Speak Up Award for Primary & Intermediate Teachers NZALT members who teach up to and including Year 8 can apply for financial assis-



National Advisers for Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish provide language specific support and can also offer advice about foreign language assistants and scholarship and immersion opportunities for each language.

Blenheim (28. September) Nelson (28. September)

Spanish and Culture: a perfect match!

Workshops for teachers of Spanish coming up soon:  Auckland: 16. November  Hamilton: 21. November

Professional Development Opportunities TPDL (Teacher Professional Development Languages) is a Ministry of Education funded programme aimed at developing teacher language proficiency and second language teaching capabilities in order to improve student language learning outcomes. TPDL is available to beginners as well as language experts.

ILEP (International Languages Exchanges and Pathways) supports schools and teachers to implement the Learning Languages curriculum area, particularly at Years 7 and 8.

Language Immersion Awards are provided by the Ministry of Education for teachers of languages to undertake immersion experiences overseas. Applications close on 30.

August 2012. Further details are available at the AFS website.

Don't forget! Check out the Learning Languages Website for regular updates and more information.