My Learning Journey in MATCIL

Ms Liu Congxin, Graduate of Master of Arts in Teaching Chinese as an International Language [MATCIL] in 2022

In 2021, I entered The Education University of Hong Kong with a passion for my master’s degree. The reason I chose to study Teaching Chinese as an International Language as my major because, first of all, I have been teaching Chinese as a second language in both the United States and Hong Kong.  In terms of the first reason, I realized that although we are native speakers, it is not easy to teach our own language to foreigners. It requires professional language knowledge, scientific pedagogy, and even linguistic psychology. Especially, while we are talking about metaverse, we should link Chinese language teaching to technology because Chinese language teaching needs to keep up with the times to be flourishing.

The design and structure of the MA programme in Teaching Chinese as an International Language at EdUHK have taken me a big step forward in my professional career. Through a year of intensive study and practical experience, I have not only strengthened my theoretical foundation in the Chinese language, I also learned the pedagogy of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, as well as the different psychological and teaching strategies for the second language learners. In particular, “Intercultural Communication” made me realize the importance of teachers’ intercultural competence in second language teaching. More importantly, it gave me a glimpse of the IB curriculum and its teaching philosophy. The programme provided us with lectures from different international schools’ experts, international school visits and practicum. I was able to immerse myself in the programme, which has widened my horizon and changed my perspective on not only education, but also the aspect of my life.

Now, I am graduating. However, I am reluctant to let go of this precious learning experience. I am looking forward to returning for further study at EdUHK in the near future.

Celebrating Christmas

Enjoying outdoor sports

Hanging out with friends