Part-Time Language Teachers (Chinese)

Result of Service

Part-time teachers are expected to prepare and facilitate each lesson of assigned courses as scheduled, to correct assignments and homework in a timely manner, and to monitor their students’ progress and suggest useful learning strategies on a weekly basis. Part-time teachers provide group and individual feedback, and administer, assess and grade evaluation tasks, tests and exams as scheduled. Once an assigned course is finished and by the end of the language learning term, part-time teachers must provide students’ final evaluations and report on students’ attendance. The yearly calendar and language learning terms dates are specified in the Terms and Conditions of Service at the Language and Communications Training Unit at Headquarters. Part-time teachers may participate in the development of language or communication skills projects. When assigned to a specific project, part-time teachers are expected to periodically report on the progress of their work, and then to integrate the feedback received from their supervisors to ensure the quality of deliverables and completion of assignments by the established deadline.

Work Location

New York or Remote

Expected duration

Duration of contract should be limited to 9 work months in any period of 12 consecutive months, irrespective of the cumulative months of actual work. The contract will be linked to the language learning calendar and, specifically, to the length of courses and pedagogical activities assigned.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Language and Communications Training Unit (LCTU) at the Capacity Development and Operational Training Services (CDOTS), Office of Support Operations (OSO), Department of Operational Support (DOS), promotes linguistic balance and multilingualism within the Secretariat and improves the language abilities of staff, as mandated by the General Assembly in its resolutions A/RES/78/330, 2480 B (XXIII), 43/224D and 50/11. To do so the LCTU offers language and communication skills courses in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish to staff members at UN Headquarters in New York and also in the Global Secretariat. The staff members who are hired as language teachers in the LCTU are distributed across the six language programmes to work in the development, delivery and the assessment of language and communication skills offerings aligned with organizational goals and priorities, and according to General Assembly mandates, UN policies and instructions on learning, and the Secretary-General´s recommendations on multilingualism. To attend to the demand of language learning these language teachers are unable to cover, the LCTU would need to hire additional teachers as individual contractors on a part-time basis. The number of contractors to be hired varies depending on the demand and the budget available. These teachers can also work on language projects, such as updating and/or design and development of language and communication skills courses and materials, as required. The duties of Chinese part-time language teachers are to promote multilingualism and to help UN staff develop more effective work-related communication skills in Chinese. These duties include the following: – Prepare and teach Chinese language and communication skill courses at all levels via in-person, online, or hybrid modality, assess students’ performances and provide feedback. – Use Learning Management Systems (such as Moodle) and e-learning tools in course preparation and delivery. – Administer the course in the Learning Management System, including maintaining attendance and grading records. – Develop new Chinese language and communication skills courses (including self-study courses) and learning materials, using innovative instructional technology. – Design Chinese language learning assessments, construct and grade language proficiency exams following specific guidelines.

Qualifications/special skills

Academic Qualifications: Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent degree) in language area studies, language teaching, applied linguistics, communication or education/pedagogy or related area is required. Degrees with special emphasis on the theory and practice of teaching a second or foreign language to adult learners are desirable. A first-level university degree in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. Post-degree training in second or foreign language teaching is highly desirable. Experience: A minimum of five years of experience teaching Chinese as a foreign or second language to adults in a multi-cultural setting (corporate, academic or other professional setting), is required. Of these, at least three years of recent experience in curriculum development, language examination design, and/or language teacher training is required. Experience using a variety of e-learning tools, learning management systems, online collaboration tools and social media platforms to teach a second or foreign language is desirable. Experience at an international level in a multicultural environment is highly desirable. Language: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. Expert level of competence in Chinese is required (oral and written) according to the UN Language Framework (https://hr.un.org/page/un-language-framework). Advanced knowledge of English is required. Knowledge of other UN official languages is an advantage.

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.