1. Putonghua Salon: A Language learning Enhancement Program for Students and Staff Members in the City University of Hong Kong by Jackie Xiu Yan, CTL City University of Hong Kong BYJackie Xiu Yan City University of Hong Kong

2. Objectives and Intended Outcomes  Upon successful completion of this project, students should be able to: Speak Putonghua fluently, naturally and confidently Use accurate and appropriate expressions and intonation in interactive communication in daily life Apply various paper-based and multimedia resources (e.g., newspapers, grammar books, online dictionaries, pronunciation and vocabulary software, study games, movies, TV programs) to further self-learning with ease Develop listening comprehension, get used to listening to various speakers and develop speaking proficiency

3. Methodology of the Project  Creating a real environment for students to practice Putonghua for 2 hours every week  Providing face-to-face counseling support for the students  Conducting a follow-up survey and focus group interview soliciting students’ self-evaluation of their Putonghua proficiency, communicative ability in Putonghua, confidence in speaking Putonghua, capability of applying various paper-based and multimedia resources to teach Putonghua to themselves. The participants will also be encouraged to take the National Putonghua Proficiency Test on a voluntary basis.

4. How might the outcomes affect teaching and learning and benefit the University as a whole?  In traditional PTH classes, students find it difficult to practice the language after class.  The traditional Putonghua classroom teaching can not meet the students’ need of multimodal learning  A majority of the respondents reported that after participation in the Salon activities their speaking skills (in terms of fluency, naturalness and confidence) improved, their vocabulary choices were more appropriate and pronunciation more accurate, and they were able to identify and correct their own speaking mistakes.  More than 10,000 people who visited the website. The web site provides lots of different online resources, such as audio recordings, vocabularies with pinyin phonetics and Pinyin learning software. Students can review what they have learnt and played during the Salon’s in-class section every week, they can also interact with the teachers or other students by leaving messages or questions on the message board, which has been provided on the web site.