Chinese teaching with new methods introduced by native lecturer

Gao Hang worked as a Chinese language lecturer at the Dalian University of Foreign Languages (China), where she taught Armenian students who left for China as part of exchange programs. In the interview with us, she told that the Armenian students stood out for their eagerness, hard work and great desire to learn new things.

Gao Hang emphasized that she accepted the offer to teach abroad with great enthusiasm. Referring to the motives for coming to Armenia, she mentioned: "I had three motives for choosing Armenia. First, the teaching of Chinese in Armenia has been included in the national education system, and the Confucius Institute was founded here. I think Chinese language teaching has great prospects in Armenia.  Secondly, having received the opportunity to communicate with Armenian educators and teach Armenian students in China as part of exchange programs, I was highly impressed, and a desire arose to strengthen cooperative ties with my Armenian colleagues. Thirdly, Armenia has centuries of history and is the first country in the world to adopt Christianity as a state religion. Armenia was also interesting for me from this point of view."

The Chinese lecturer started teaching in Yerevan in January 2023 at the Confucius Institute established at Brusov State University, and since September has been teaching at YSU as well.

Speaking about the features of the educational system of Armenia, she stated that a lot of attention is paid to language education in the country.

"I noticed that in addition to their mother language, students not only study English and Russian, but also aim to participate in courses on other foreign languages, such as Chinese, French and other languages," said Gao Hang, emphasizing that this approach contributes to broadening students' horizons and developing their abilities to get involved in international communication and cooperation.

"Moreover, in today's world, fluency in different languages has become a competitive advantage in the labor market," she added.

In Armenia, Gao Hang was attracted by the rich history, unique architecture and incredible nature.

"It is a great advantage to live and work in such a wonderful country. Especially Geghardavank, Sevanavank, Etchmiadzin Cathedral left a great impression on me. The fact that a number of Armenian tourist attractions have been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List is also noteworthy," said our interlocutor.

Gao Hang added that although her employment contract expires in January 2025, she wants to extend her working period in Armenia, if, of course, the Dalian University of Foreign Languages gives her that opportunity.

Director of the Center of Chinese Language and Culture at the YSU Faculty of International Relations, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor, Syuzanna Navasardyan, highlighting the importance of implementing foreign language courses by a native teacher, noted that Chinese has been taught at YSU since 2014, and already in 2015, the Center of Chinese Language and Culture was established within the framework of cooperation with the Confucius Institute.

"Both local lecturers, who underwent training or worked in China, and native lecturers have been teaching at YSU. Until now, we have had more than 5 native lecturers, and now Gao Hang is teaching. "Teaching by native lecturers in the final years of students is more welcoming, considering that students, knowing that native speakers do not understand English well, have no choice but to communicate in Chinese", she said and emphasized that by inadvertently speaking Chinese, the language proficiency level of even a student who does not know the language very well is improved.

Syuzanna Navasardyan also emphasized that various cultural events are regularly organized at the Center of Chinese Language and Culture, with the aim of introducing Chinese learners to the country's cultural life.

According to Syuzanna Navasardyan, there are few Chinese language specialists in Armenia, but the demand for specialists is high, and it is not easy to hire native lecturers. She mentioned that Gao Hang was recommended by the Confucius Institute, when the YSU Faculty of International Relations applied by a request to involve a relevant specialist in the educational process.

In the interview with us, Amalya Poghosyan, who is studying in the 3rd year at the YSU Faculty of International Relations and is one of the students of Gao Hang, highlighted the fact that after studying the language for three years, they will also learn the geography of the given country in Chinese. Touching upon the advantages of teaching by a native lecturer, she emphasized that in addition to learning the language, they also have the opportunity to get acquainted with Chinese culture by participating in a number of cultural events.

“Chinese is a complex language and differs from other languages by having 80,000 hieroglyphs instead of an alphabet. It is a tonal language, that is, if we pronounce the word with the wrong tone, it will get a different meaning. In this regard, one of the biggest advantages of speaking with a native speaker is that you hear the right tone, which is immediately fixed in the mind. On the other hand, you don't have the opportunity to communicate with a native speaker in your native language, because she doesn't understand it, and you use dictionaries and books more often so that you can express your thoughts in Chinese," said Amalya Poghosyan.

Speaking about the teaching process and methods, the student said that the Chinese lessons are very interesting, as active discussions are held on various topics.

"During the lessons, we also play interesting games, for instance, we explain the Chinese word in Chinese, and our classmates try to guess it. The winners receive Chinese souvenirs from the lecturer. In order to increase the language knowledge level, we apply a creative approach to the lessons. For example, we prepare Chinese clips, take interviews in Chinese with Chinese students studying in Armenia, collecting additional points within the framework of the course," said Amalya Poghosyan.

The student emphasized that regular visits are organized to the Embassy of China in Armenia, as well as meetings are held with Gao Hang's Chinese friends when they visit Armenia. These communications make them to be more confident in speaking Chinese.

YSU student plans to continue her education in China. She noted that although the knowledge of 6000-8000 hieroglyphs is enough to communicate with the Chinese, it is necessary to widen her knowledge of the language to work in the field she chose - diplomacy.