Please help me with my personal statement!

The first time I saw the “Chinese Bridge” competition on television, I thought it was amazing. How could these people speak Chinese so well! Since China is one of the most popular countries in the world, I realize that many people are showing unprecedented interest and enthusiasm in Chinese language and culture, so I choose teaching Chinese as my future career.

Over the past three years at university, I have learned a great deal about linguistics through classes such as Modern Chinese Language, Introduction to Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition. I have become better acquainted with the knowledge of Chinese linguistics and language education through these studies. To me, learning a language is not just getting to know how to speak it, but also to learn about the country, its people, and its culture. It does not just simply help people communicate. It is the very means to bring people all over the world closer together no matter what skin color, what race, or what religion they are. Therefore, the language teachers do not just teach a language but also help break down boundaries between human beings around the world. Thus, I think teaching a language is a great honor.

In terms of academic achievements and personal reflection, I come to be confident of this career path.My three years in university was marked by 31% excellent grades (90-100) and 53% good grades (80-90). I have no doubt that I will be capable of maintaining good academic records if I am granted a fellowship to join the master program.Outside the classroom, I have also expanded my basic knowledge of Literature and Psychology. I have read plenty of books of ancient Chinese culture and written a thesis about a famous ancient poetry (“The Analysis of XXX). In the process of getting the national psychology consultant certification, I have acquired useful knowledge related to language acquisition and education. I intend to integrate such knowledge throughout my career path in an effort to enlighten others.

As for the research practice, it has brought me a lot of knowledge and skills which I can’t acquire in the classroom. I hosted a university students' innovative and practical project this year, whose goal is to try to analyze overseas students’ classroom discourse with my classmates. We filmed their classroom performance and transcribed videos to text. One problem we have encountered in experiment is what kind of method we should use to analyze data. Fortunately I attended Professor XXX's lecture at theXXXForum, and the concept of the lecture is to focus on the pragmatic factors in language use, and to promote the cultivation of students' pragmatic competence in real context. Inspired by this, we analyzed the accuracy, fluency and complexity of the discourse by using CSL theory and the structure of conversation by using the method of conversational structure analysis. We got results that can reflect the characteristics of intermediate Chinese learners. Now based on the results, we are searching for suitable ways to help develop their speaking performance. Through this project, I have learned analysis methods of language acquisition and language use, such as corpus collecting, processing and analysis, which raised my ability to find and analyze problems. Meanwhile, the application and the planning of the entire project has also improved my organization and communication skills.

While the project experience demonstrated my ability in language analysis, educational practice allows me to acquire practical experience in teaching Chinese. This semester I conducted an internship at xxxUniversity, and I faced more challenges than I expected. One of the challenges is that I found students cannot remember the contents of the previous lesson and cannot say correct words and sentences in dialogue practice. I adjusted the teaching method, reduced the number of words and sentences they need to learn, and increased the repetition rate. I also encouraged them to create new condition to practice words and sentence patterns. After adjusting the method, the students' interest and accuracy were increased. This experience made me realize the importance of language knowledge in teaching.

As a graduate from Chinese department, I have a clear vision of the present state and the promising future of Chinese teaching. The enthusiasm and quantity of Chinese are not merited by quality, the lack of scientific guideline or the need of profound theory of linguistics as its support may be the answers. We are in want of not only effective teaching methodologies, but also the principles of second language acquisition. For that reason, I am applying to your school for the Master Program of Chinese linguistics and Language Acquisition. The program attracted me with its first class teachers and scientific curricula. which allows me acquire the systematic Chinese language structure and language acquisition training. In addition, The xxxJoint Center for Language, Mind and Brain provides students an international platform for advancing knowledge. Besides, Hong Kong is a vibrant world city where global cultures meet, mix, and mesh,this environment is more conducive to the study of language.

Undoubtedly the xxxUniversityleads the theoretical research and practice of CLLA, I plan to focus on the theory of the Chinese studying process of foreign students as well as language analysis methodology, i.e. how to analyze the corpus data collected in the natural environment. Also, I will familiarize myself with Hong Kong culture, and enhance my own comprehensive ability of the English and Cantonese. I believe outstanding research achievements will be obtained through my careful observation, mindful reflection plus my creativity and inspiration.

After graduate education, I intend to go in for Chinese teaching in an international school first, applying theoretical knowledge to teaching practice. Then I might study for a Ph.D in second language acquisition and work in a language research institute, where I will be actively engaged in searching for the Chinese studying method that suits the foreign people.