Language Centres at a Crossroads

A lot of students seem to start and learn Chinese for a year or so, but do not continue.

• To what extent, the challenge of learning Chinese characters has an impact on this?
• What are the ways to motivate students to learn for a longer time?
• How is writing in Chinese being taught in your institution, methods, tools, tips, exchange of best practices, which can address the issue and increase sustainability?

The panel will last 60 minutes in total, with 3 individual presentations of 15 minutes each followed by a panel discussion.

What can eyetracking tell us about CFL Learners' reading strategies (Lijing Shi)
This study attempts to discover the general reading patterns and the most common strategies employed by two groups of CFL learners. Using eyetracking and stimulated recall interviews (Stickler & Shi, 2015), three beginners and three mastery students participated. They were asked to complete two short on-screen reading tasks, and then to make comments while watching their eye movement recordings. The research first looked into how beginners and mastery students deal with reading comprehension. It then examined their general approaches to deal with character reading, and compared the differences between the strategies applied by more and less successful readers.

Curriculum design for sustainable development in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign language (Duo Luan)
To create a stable, continuous and sustainable learning environment for Chinese language teaching and learning, this paper applies the Chinese language programme at the University of Edinburgh as a case study. The considerations are given to the integration of all stages such as achievable learning outcomes, clear assessment structure, and fit-for-purpose teaching content within a course. This talk also discusses the coherence and cohesion across different courses within a programme and beyond, as well as a balance between what we teach and what students need. The case shows the diversity within a course could underline traditional five language skills (listening, speaking, writing, reading and translation). Meanwhile, it could equally transfer such knowledge into cognitive and communicative skills but through an engaging and innovative curriculum design.

Learning Chinese writing in the classroom and on technology-enhanced platforms (Wei Shao)
I will be presenting two methods of learning the written form of Chinese characters and Chinese writing skills. The first method is used in the conventional classroom setting via learners' self-reflective portfolios. The second method demonstrates how the Chinese character learning experience can be aided by technology for independent distance learners. These methods respectively showcase my teaching practices at Cardiff University and the Open University.

Catherine Xiang (MEd, PhD) is an established author and applied linguist with rich experience in the higher education as well as high profile consultancy industry to businesses that wish to engage with China. She is Head of East Asian Languages at LSE, Programme Director for BSc International Relations and Chinese; as well as UK Director for LSE Confucius Institute for Business London. Originally from Shanghai, she is skilled in Intercultural Communication, Translation, Foreign Languages, Lecturing, TV and Public Speaking. She is also an expert in eLearning and innovation in language learning.

Lijing Shi holds a Ph.D. in Technology Enhanced Language Learning and an M.Ed. in Educational Technology & TESOL. She is currently Assistant Language Co-ordinator (Mandarin) at LSE where she teaches Mandarin courses. She has been awarded two Teaching Excellence Awards in 2013 and 2017 respectively. Prior to joining the LSE, she taught EFL in the UK and contributed to the UK's first distance-learning Chinese course at the Open University. Her main research areas are dynamic assessment, eyetracking, online language teaching, and intercultural communicative competence; and she has published widely in these areas.

Dr. Duo LUAN is the Chinese Language Programme Director at the University of Edinburgh. She has taught Chinese language in UK HE for more than 16 years, and has strong sector recognition for her innovative approach to Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (TCFL) pedagogy. Dr Luan presented at different conferences across the UK/Europe, gave trainings to many organisations with regards to TCFL, and published her papers in the area of language teaching and learning strategies. She is also a senior Examiner of University of Cambridge International Examinations, and acts as an external examiner of other British higher institute.

Shao Wei is a Lecturer in Chinese Studies at Cardiff University and Associate Lecturer in Chinese at the Open University. Prior to his current roles, he has taught in the University of Manchester, the University of Leeds as well as the University of Sheffield since 2009. He is also a committee member of British Chinese Language Teaching Society -- the largest Chinese teaching body in the higher education in the UK. His recent scholarship activities include the production of undergraduate and GCSE Chinese textbooks. His research interests are language teaching pedagogy and second language acquisition.