We Asked; Mandarin Teachers Answered: See Inside Our Survey Results!
At Little Crab Educational Press (LCEP), our mission is to empower Mandarin teachers and support parents who are providing their kids with Mandarin education, whether that’s in a Mandarin immersion program or as an additional-language class: We understand the importance of publishing effective Mandarin teaching resources that will benefit teachers, parents and of course, students. Recently, we asked Mandarin teachers across Canada and the US to participate in a survey we set up to better grasp the challenges they face in finding the right resources. Now we are pulling back the curtain to our findings! Read on to find out what they told us, so you, too, can gain valuable insights into the current state of Mandarin education in North America and learn where those on the front lines see potential for improvements.
What Are the Biggest Challenges in Accessing Quality Mandarin Resources?
We asked, “Currently what are your biggest challenges in accessing quality Mandarin teaching and learning resources? Select all that apply.” Here’s what we found:
Out of the 9 possible responses, the clearest challenges were:
- "Lack of age/level appropriate materials", followed by
- "Limited availability for my subject area" and
- "The inability to customize items for my own specific lesson needs".
Further research is needed to understand the shortage of age- and level-appropriate materials at a deeper level, but we can safely assume that resources for babies to Kindergarten age are the most abundant category and then it becomes challenging in higher elementary grades and beyond. In fact, my experience at School House Teaching Supplies (the “teacher’s store” in Victoria, BC) taught me that even in English, it's hard to find materials that match the curriculum and suit the age and language level of students. In our province of British Columbia, Mandarin immersion in public schools starts at Grade 5 (if you are lucky enough to live in an area that offers it). Because "beginner" resources can be overly juvenile, we plan to ask teachers if the beginner materials for 9- and 10-year-olds are too simplistic or if their topics don’t match their level of maturity or make them curious to learn more.
Regarding the teachers’ issue with the "limited availability" of resources, based on our survey, teachers seem to find it easier to source Mandarin materials for subjects like reading and language arts but struggle more to find age-appropriate resources in subjects like Social Studies, Science, Math and so on.
And as mentioned, the third point of the top three responses was, “The inability to customize items for my own specific lesson needs". What’s exciting for us about this response is that we do offer a customizable product, the Build Your Word Set Book, a bespoke service that empowers teachers to open up LCEP’s proprietary vocabulary mastery tool, the Tortoise Tile Method, to almost any subject, in Mandarin.
These insights highlight the need for diverse, high-quality materials that cater to various age groups and subject areas:
Availability of Simplified Chinese/Mandarin Materials
Next, we asked teachers to rate their experiences with the availability of Simplified Chinese/Mandarin materials for different language skills. We asked, “With 1 being the most difficult to find and 8 being the easiest to find, please rate your personal experience with the availability of Simplified Chinese/Mandarin materials for the following language skills.”
The result: Out of the Seven Language Skills (more on that in this blog post, if you’re curious) listed as possible answers for this question (Speaking, Listening, Reading, Writing - Handwriting, Writing - Composition, Grammar, Pronunciation, and Vocabulary), teachers said:
- Writing - Composition was rated as the hardest to find quality materials for, followed closely by Grammar and Writing - Handwriting.
- Listening and Vocabulary: Conversely, these skills were deemed much easier to source.
What is interesting to us about this result is that we have already begun to address many of these deficits, and we have big plans for the future. For example, in our collection of bestsellers there is a “writing-composition” resource, meaning, other than our storybooks, our bestselling resource is currently the Study Chinese Gratitude Journal 感恩日记: 一年52个感恩提示 / 52 Writing Prompts for 1 Year of Thankfulness, which comes with three cover art choices (Beach, Mountain or Forest). These journals offer 52 different writing prompts and then space on one page to do a rough draft and space on the other page to rewrite the composition into a corrected/edited, final copy. So, they really do offer a lot of space for composition practice and handwriting practice.
Desired Resources for the Classroom
Lastly, we explored what types of resources teachers would be interested in purchasing. The results were inspiring. We asked, “Please select all that apply below: If Little Crab Educational Press were to make these resources, which, if any, could you see yourself purchasing for your classroom? If a given category is not applicable to your teaching (or is simply not desirable to you), leave the box blank.”
The results: Out of 9 possible answers, the bulk of the results provided a bit of an “all of the above” type answer in that many of the 9 resources we listed were almost tied in terms of the teachers finding them desirable, but the ones that were the “winners” were:
- Mandarin Activity Kits for Immersion Classrooms: This was the clear favorite, indicating a strong desire for ready-to-use resources that simplify lesson planning.
- Parent Support Resources: Teachers want materials that help parents understand what is being asked of their child in an assignment, and that supports them in assisting their children to get their Mandarin schoolwork done when at home.
- Subjects Beyond Language Arts: There was expressed interest in resources for subjects like Math taught in Mandarin.
This result is illuminating for us because we have plans to work on kits as well as materials in subjects other than language arts, but it’s also gratifying to know we have already started to address the second concern about parent support materials for home practice.
Our main passion is breaking down language barriers and fostering inclusivity through demystifying Mandarin for native English speakers and as such, we believe parents shouldn’t have to be bilingual themselves in order to be able to introduce their children to the “sights and sounds” of Mandarin or English early on and in a convenient and entertaining way. That’s why our children’s books have Text Scaffolding (learn more about it in this quick video). We also created the Early Learning Reading Tracker - Dual Language Mandarin/English Bundle: Year of Holidays Theme in which there is a full Mandarin set and a full English set. The one can serve as a sort of "answer key" for the other, or simply serve as a translation for a non-Mandarin speaking parent so they can understand what is being asked of their child on that reading tracker. And, as we always say, there are free audio files that accompany nearly all of our products, which can be listened to in English or in Mandarin for this reason as well, available through our Little Audio Library.
Handwriting Chinese Characters, Printing in English, and Cursive Handwriting
Now that our full set of “ABCs of…” Holidays Tortoise Tile Vocabulary Builders are ready, we are working on their accompanying handwriting workbooks and language arts activity books. The handwriting books will provide practice in English upper and lowercase printing, and cursive, and in Simplified Chinese characters.
To further support both teachers and parents, we wanted to offer an on-ramp to understanding how Chinese character handwriting is supposed to work so we created a “Cliffsnotes”-style freebie all about it. Whether you are a Mandarin teacher who needs a quick explainer handout for native English speaking parents, or you are self-studying Mandarin again and want a quick refresher about Chinese handwriting, or you’re are an English-speaking parent whose child is in Mandarin class, this freebie is for you! We trust that if you are a teacher, it will make sending homework home go a bit smoother, and if you are a parent helping your kid to do said Mandarin homework, it will help you out a lot. Sign up to our email list and get An Introduction to Chinese Handwriting for free!
Join the Conversation!
As we move forward, we remain dedicated to breaking down language barriers and fostering inclusivity. We invite you to join us on this journey, sharing your insights and ideas as we strive to support the vibrant community of Mandarin educators and learners. Together, we can make a meaningful impact in Mandarin education across North America!
Our recent survey of Mandarin teachers has provided invaluable insights into the challenges they face in accessing quality resources. The top concerns highlighted include the lack of age-appropriate materials, limited availability across various subjects, and the need for customizable resources. These findings reinforce our commitment to developing diverse, high-quality materials tailored to different age groups and educational needs. Looking ahead, we are excited to expand our offerings in several key areas.
If you are a Mandarin teacher, a parent of a student in Mandarin immersion, or a self-studying Mandarin learner reading this and you have more insight related to those survey questions, we’d LOVE to hear from you. Please email us at hello@littlecrabpress.ca or DM us on Instagram.
Happy Handwriting!