Language Culture and Curriculum
Editor and Book Reviews Editor: Eoghan Mac Aogain (St Patrick's College)
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Volume: 16 Number: 1 Page: 70–89
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Chinese as a Foreign Language in Canada: A Content-Based Programme for Elementary School
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Jingzi Huang
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The article reports on a content-based approach in a language programme for young beginners. Through a case study of a 'Mandarin Chinese as a Foreign Language Programme' for third and fourth graders in
a Canadian public elementary school, it attempts to investigate the feasibility of adopting a content-based approach to achieve the dual goals of language and culture learning for young beginners. In the
study, content-based teaching – a form of communicative language teaching – is broadly defined as 'an approach to second language teaching in which teaching is organised around the content or
information that students will acquire, rather than around a linguistic or other type of syllabus' (Richards & Rodgers, 2001: 204). Thus cultural information associated with the target language is viewed
as meaningful and important content, as well as knowledge of the language.
© Multilingual Matters 2003
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