Confucius Institute at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies was established on October 31, 2009, co-founded by Beijing Foreign Studies University and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. The philosophy of the Institute is “to develop education and scientific research, language and culture in a balanced way”. It aims at promoting the education of Chinese language in South Korea and bridging the communication gap between the two countries. In such areas as promulgating Chinese and Chinese culture, the institute carries out cultural activities and related researches in multiple forms.
Profile
The Confucius Institute is located in Seoul campus of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, covering an area of 495 square meters, with about 198 square meters for teaching purposes and about 297 square meters for administrative uses.
There are altogether 14 teaching and administrative staff members in the institute, including 1 Chinese dean, 2 teachers and 6 volunteers; 1 Korean dean, 2 administrative staff and 2 teaching assistants.
The Current Situation of Chinese Teaching And Examination
The Confucius Institute not only offers regular Chinese courses such as oral Chinese at entry, elementary, intermediate, advanced level and HSK, but also sets up some special courses which are closely related to Chinese culture, namely, business Chinese, learning Chinese by singing, learning Chinese by acting in dramas, Chinese in South Korean fad, etc.
The classes are offered in four semesters (spring, summer, autumn and winter) in a circular way. Besides pupils, middle school students, and undergraduates, the classes are also opened to the public.
To ensure the quality of teaching, the faculties have passed the pre-job and on-job training for Chinese teachers as well as the Korean training courses provided by the institute. Every semester, a lot of activities such as seminars, attending other teachers’ lectures, mutual evaluation, public lectures and others are held at regular intervals. The faculties pay attention to collecting feedback from the students, exploring and summarizing the teaching methods that are appropriate for Korean students, with which the students are quite satisfied.
The institute also strongly supports teaching of Chinese in local middle schools and communities other than setting up Chinese curriculum in its university. So far, it has opened courses that are targeted at expatriates in many senior high schools, including Chinese electives in schools and the oral Chinese courses for the faculty and residents of the communities.
Cultural Activities
Rich and colorful cultural activities
3.1 It organizes nation-wide contests regularly. For example, it held 4 times of Chinese Contest for Korean Senior High School Students and 5 times of China-Korea Youth Forum, etc.
3.2 It coordinates with the cultural institution of the embassy and news media to hold big cultural activities. The institute and the Chinese Culture Center in Seoul jointly organized the lecture on traditional Chinese folks, operas and arts exclusively for the students of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. Besides, it also held some activities like inviting people to have an in-depth experience of the seal cutting works of Li Lanqing and calligraphy.
3.3 It holds cultural activities of various forms on campus in a regular way. It organizes many cultural activities available to all students, which are very popular with them.
Research
In accordance with its philosophy of “developing education and scientific research in a balanced way”, our institute also emphasizes on scientific research while vigorously carries out Chinese teaching tasks.
4.1 Research and development of textbooks: Based on the survey on the current situation of textbooks and Chinese education in Korea, a search report on Chinese textbooks used in Korea was written and published; elementary, intermediate and advanced “Chinese of South Korean fad” were also successfully developed; the textbook for special curriculum, the New Legend of Chunxiang for learning Chinese by acting in dramas was finished and is ready for publication.
4.2 Academic conferences: Our institute has successfully held international academic conferences and lectures and other academic activities for many times, namely, “Asia-Pacific Academic Conference on Chinese Language Education”, International Academic Conference of Chinese Language Society, the League of Korean Confucius Institutes, “Chinese Language Pedagogy Seminar” and “The Opportunities and Challenges Faced by Chinese Language in an Era of Internationalization”(the 5th International Academic Conference on Chinese Language Teaching) in 2014, and sodality for Chinese teachers who teach Chinese in Korea in the form of a series of lectures themed on Chinese language teaching methodology, etc.
Features of the Institute
Since the institute was founded 5 years ago, we have always being sticking to the philosophy of “developing education and scientific research, language and culture in a balanced way” and have set up regular Chinese courses such as oral Chinese at entry, elementary, intermediate, advanced level and HSK courses. Meanwhile, we attach importance to training Chinese teachers and their localization, continually exploring new models of teaching and developing many special courses that are closely related to Chinese culture. As a result, the characteristics of our institute were gradually shaped during the process.
5.1 Training for on-job Chinese teachers and their localization
Our institute puts high value on the on-job training and localization of teachers who teach Chinese in Korea. We developed “the localization and training mode for Chinese teachers on-job” and held Teaching Skills Contest for Chinese Volunteer Teachers. So far, the contest has been successfully held for four times. Its influence reaches all the Chinese teachers, volunteers and CPIK volunteers who work in Korea.
We attach great importance to the localization of Chinese teachers. The institute hires Korean teachers and provides them with Korean language and culture training, aiming at improving their understanding of the Korean language and their ability of comparing these two languages and cultures, and pushing them to strengthen self-cultivation. All these will lay a solid foundation for the teaching and scientific research in the future.
We lay emphasis on teaching and academic research, holding teaching training and teaching experience seminars to assist the Chinese teachers to adapt to the local teaching environment, language and culture to improve the effect and quality of teaching.
5.2 Exploring new teaching modes and special curriculum
We developed some new teaching modes like “Chinese of South Korean fad” and “learning Chinese by acting in dramas”, which have already become the curriculum with our own characteristics.
“Chinese of South Korean fad” is a particular teaching mode targeted at people who would go to China to do some researches or studies during a short vacation. It is guided by “task-oriented” teaching methodology and features. The class has been opened for ten times and all have brought quite good effects.
“Learning Chinese by acting in dramas” is a particular teaching mode which is targeted at entry-level students who cannot pronounce correctly or speak in Chinese. When the course ends, the students could act in dramas in fluent Chinese. In 2012, the students rehearsed a drama named the New Legend of Chunxiang and performed it for many times in both China and Korea, attracting more than 3,000 audience and receiving praise from them.
More about us
In March, 2014, Confucius Institute at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies gained support from Confucius Institute Headquarters and made a promotional video, which records many teaching and scientific research projects as well as the interactions and communications between teachers and students.
Future plans
Confucius Institute at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies always adheres to the philosophy of “developing education and scientific research, language and culture in a balanced way”. It has also explored and developed new Chinese teaching modes and made great breakthroughs in the on-job training on localization and regionalization of Chinese volunteer teachers, which paves the way for building a high-quality team of Chinese volunteer teachers.
However, under the circumstance of internationalization, the development of the Confucius Institute and the Chinese language teaching are faced with more opportunities and challenges. Confucius Institute at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies will respond to the opportunities and challenges in a more open and optimistic way and proceed with teaching, scientific research and the spread of language and culture on a road which leads to success.
Contact us
Address: 270, Lmun-dong,Dongdaemoon-gu,Seoul,Korea(130-791) Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Foreign Language Training & Testing Center KIM SUNG HEE
Contacts: Park Sing Soo, Miao Chunmei
Tel: 02-21733469
Fax: 02-2173-3473
(As of December 31st, 2014)
