Abstract:
Australian universities are increasingly focusing on internationalisation, but have not made transnational knowledge exchange a strategic focus. This paper argues that the bilingual/multilingual competence of international students is an asset not a deficit. It reports a case study of the Research-Oriented School-Engaged Teacher Education (ROSETE) program, which is an international collaborative project for training bilingual teacher-researchers. Conceptually, this study is framed in terms of 'Chinese knowledge'. Seven teacher-researchers who participated in this Program were interviewed about their Mandarin teaching experience in Australian public schools, especially their perspectives on using Chinese knowledge in their Master of Education (Honours) theses. Their theses were analysed to explore evidence of using Chinese knowledge including their use of Pin-yin, Chinese characters (Hanzi), Chinese stories, concepts and theories.