Recent results from The University of Queensland’s annual Chinese Writing Contest show the value of Chinese language learning in Queensland schools has steadily increased over recent years.
From humble beginnings in 1995, this year’s event, run by UQ’s School of Languages, saw 208 students apply from 49 primary and secondary schools around the state, which was a significant increase from last year.
Event organiser Dr Angela Cook said the quality of this year’s entries was impressive.
“The quality of the character formation, in particular, was excellent this year, with schools valuing this engagement activity encouraging students’ Chinese language learning,” she said.
Open to all Queensland schools that teach Chinese language, this event aims to promote Chinese language learning in schools and increase interest amongst students who might consider continuing Chinese learning at UQ.
Teachers of Chinese in UQ’s School of Languages set the writing tasks for the contest and the final judging was undertaken by a panel of three Chinese language teachers from the School.
UQ’s Confucius Institute was also involved, and has been sponsoring the event every year since 2010 – including support of prizes and marking cost.
Confucius Institute Director Professor Ping Chen was also impressed with the quality of this year’s entries to the competition.
“The Chinese Writing Contest is one of UQ Confucius Institute’s annual initiatives and we are very pleased that our involvement supports this ongoing engagement with local schools in Queensland,” Professor Chen said.
The contest was held last month with eight categories catering for different year levels and language backgrounds – including native and non-native speakers of Chinese.
Supreme Awards went to Jennifer Mai from Brisbane State High School and Lucy Luo from John Paul College.
