Speakers

Jianhua Bai is Robert A. Oden Jr. Professor of Chinese at Kenyon College, teaching Chinese at all levels. He also directed the Chinese School of Middlebury College (2002—2017). His research interests include applied linguistics, Chinese language pedagogy and assessment and teacher development. He is a life time member of the Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA), has served on the Executive Board of CLTA for 2 terms (1995-98) (2001-2004) and was President of the CLTA (2003-04). He is currently a board member of the International Society of Chinese Language Teaching. He has extensive experience in teacher training and supervision for various world languages, including AP Chinese. He has also had the following Professional experiences: directing study-abroad programs such as the ACC Program in Beijing and the Hopkins/ Nanjing/CET Summer Program at Nanjing University, serving as Senior Academic Advisor (Flagship curriculum development and assessment and teacher training) for American Council of International Education, chairing the AP Chinese Language and Culture Exam Development Committee, serving as College Board Advisor for the AP Chinese development, serving as Chief Reader of AP Chinese, developing multimedia Learning Objects (advanced Chinese reading materials) and StarTalk curriculum framework for the National Foreign Language Center at University of Maryland, and serving on the National Advisory Board (NAB) for the Center for Language Education And Research of Michigan State University.

Title: CFL Teacher Development in North America: current state and future directions

The presentation deals with teacher development in the field of teaching Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) in North America. It starts with a discussion on what constitutes CFL teaching excellence and then provides an analytical summary of the models of teacher training and professional development. It argues for the need for more effective and systematic models of teacher training and proposes a systematic and integrated approach to CFL teacher training. The presentation concludes with the description of the proposed teacher training framework and the important elements of the framework that are designed to develop the essential competencies of CFL teaching excellence. It addresses not only what successful CFL teachers should know, but also what they should be able to do, applying a strong knowledge base into successful and effective teaching practice.

Dr. Paula Kristmanson is the Director of the Second Language Research Institute of Canada (L2RIC) and a Professor in the Faculty of Education at UNB. Her current research interests focus on teacher education and on teaching and learning in variety of second and additional language contexts. She is also the past-president of TESL Canada and an member of the Teacher Education Consortium for the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers.

Title: Second Language Teacher Education: Insights, Experience, and Challenges

After almost 25 years working with teacher candidates who aspire to become second language (L2) teachers, I have become very reflective about what it takes to equip and support them to BEGIN their careers as L2 teachers.  In this presentation, I would like to share the learning that I have acquired through my experiences as well as some of the resources I have created to address professional learning needs. In particular, I will share some animated videos created by our research team at the Second Language Research Institute of Canada (L2RIC) as a way to synthesize and explain key concepts related to L2 teaching and learning. We at L2RIC believe that it is essential for L2 teacher to not only be exposed to basic theories, but to also have the opportunity to see theory in practice and to see how abstract ideas become strategies in the L2 classroom.   Finally, to conclude this talk, I will reinforce the value that as educators we are always learners; it is with this in mind that we can begin the journey as L2 educators.

Dr. Fangyuan Yuan is a Professor of Chinese at the Languages and Cultures Department of the United States Naval Academy. Her research interests include the acquisition of Chinese as a second language, form-focused instruction, task-based language teaching, content-based language teaching, and teacher education. She has authored two monographs and three textbooks, co-edited two books, and published more than 30 book chapters and journal articles. She has served as the President of the Chinese Language Teachers Association – USA in 2019-2020, Chair of the Association’s Annual Conference in 2019 and 2020 and Chair of the College Board AP Chinese Development Committee, and served on the journal editorial boards of Chinese as a Second Language and International Chinese Education. She has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Master’s Degree Program at the Middlebury Chinese School, and Taiwan Normal University as a Visiting Professor.

Title: In and Out Form-focused Instruction: Insights into High-Leverage Teaching and Recommendations for Teacher Education and Development

Due to a wide range of conflicting theories in SLA and corresponding recommendations for teaching, along with the complexities associated with different instructional contexts, L2 Chinese teachers, regardless of pre-service, novice or experienced, often struggle between conventional methodologies that organize teaching surrounding forms and a variety of communicative methodologies that focus more on meaning (e.g., Long, 1991; Ellis, 2005). As a result, the quality of teaching is highly variable. With the purpose of addressing the issue and enriching the curriculum of teacher education in L2 Chinese, this presentation will report on a mixed-method, longitudinal case study of a high-leverage Chinese classroom at a well-known public university in Taiwan. Findings indicate that, despite the fact that the instruction was framed as form-focused and accuracy-oriented, the teacher integrated into her teaching many elements typified in communicative language teaching and students were offered ample opportunities for meaningful language use and for the establishment of form-meaning connections. Core teaching strategies include the use of personalized contexts for interaction, frequent transfer of classroom control to the students, and deliberations in constructing a collaborative learning community. In-depth interviews with the teacher revealed the path she went through to her personal teaching theory. With the insights into a real-life classroom, this case study entails implications for teachers and teacher educators in terms of what to teach, how to teach, and, perhaps more importantly, why to teach in a certain way.

Yang Zhao, PhD (Cantab), professor and dean of the School of Chinese as a Second Language, Peking University, China. His research areas include second language acquisition, generative grammar and sociolinguistics. He has published two monographs, two works of translation and numerous articles in academic journals. He is currently vice president of the International Society for Chinese Language Teaching and chief editor of the journal International Chinese Language Education.

Title: What makes a good Chinese language teacher in a digitalized world?

Foreign language teaching and technology are so closely connected in a digitalized world that key components of teaching such as the teacher, the student and the textbook need to be redefined. A question emerges naturally: what makes a good language teacher in the new era? The talk will address the question through two questionnaires with Chinese L2 teachers as an example: One questionnaire is on students' expectations of their teachers and the other is on teachers' beliefs in face of new challenges and opportunities of online teaching and ubiquitous learning. The purpose is to draw a global picture of a good language teacher in a digitalized world, including his/her roles, responsibilities and abilities.

Dr.  Wei Li taught in the Chinese English bilingual program in Edmonton Public Schools (EPS) for seventeen years and was also the curriculum coordinator, acting assistant principal and principal. In 2008, he worked in EPS as the Chinese consultant and assistant director and then director of the Confucius Institute in Edmonton. He is now the director of the Confucius Institute in Coquitlam and Chinese Language and Culture Institute of Coquitlam.

Title: Reflections on Local Chinese Teacher Training in Canada

Chinese language education has had a fast development during the past decade across Canada, especially in western Canada. Alberta is in the leading position. Many school districts, universities and communities across the country are now offering different Chinese language programs. These programs include Chinese bilingual program and Chinese as a second language program. The number of students learning Chinese is steadily increasing every year so as the Chinese teachers. Chinese language teachers play a key role in the success of Chinese programs. Therefore, building a strong and quality team of Chinese teachers is crucial. Based on his working experience in the Chinese language program in Alberta for more than 30 years, the presenter will reflect on the current situation of Chinese education in Canada to share ideas on the challenges we face on Chinese teacher training and the needs of Chinese teacher training. Suggestions will be made to enhance the Chinese language teacher program in Alberta and Canada.

Professor Renzhong Wang has been on the EAS teaching faculty at McGill University since 1997. He currently serves as Chair of EAS language group at the Department of East Asian Studies, and Academic Coordinator for Faculty of Arts LKS Initiative Chinese Language and Advanced Culture Studies Program with STU since 2014. As a senior faculty member of the Faculty of Arts L2 teaching group, he co-founded McGill’s Multimedia Language Facility in 1998, where he and his team designed an e-learning model in CAN8 for EAS language courses, thus transforming traditional classroom-based teaching into a new concept of language teaching and learning. His other relevant experiences include designing and directing McGill-Peking University Summer Chinese Language Program, being a co-founder and President of Chinese Language Teachers Association of Canada. His scholarly interest centers around e-learning pedagogy and the cultural dimensions of Chinese L2 teaching and learning.

Title: A dialogue with teacher trainees of the Chinese language: Creating authentic contexts locally and enhancing cross-cultural understanding

What qualities would a great foreign language teacher need to possess in order to teach effectively? Besides rich knowledge of the target language and solid pedagogical training, an informed sensitivity to cultural differences as well as passionate creativity in making good use of locally available resources to enhance students' learning experience seem all too important to ignore. The talk will address the critical issue of lacking an authentic Chinese environment outside China and Chinese speaking regions, which is so commonly claimed as a serious challenge for effective teaching of Chinese as a foreign language. The talk will discuss how it would be possible to think critically and explore creatively about finding authentic Chinese contexts in the local, where students can engage in meaningful acts of communication and genuine conversations.