Academics from top-flight universities in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau shared insights at the Conference on Language, Culture and the Teaching of English at UIC on 24 April.
The speakers addressed some 120 attendees from nearby universities, local primary schools and foreign-funded enterprises.
According to Director of UIC’s General Education Office Prof Mildred Yang, the conference provided a platform for scholars, educators and students “to develop new ideas for improving current practice in language teaching.”
Vice President Prof Zhang Cong believed that it opened up “new academic channels of communication among academics in the different regions.”
The speakers included City University of Hong Kong’s Prof Rodney Jones, Tsinghua University’s Glenn Davis, UIC English Language Centre’s Kelly Parker, Hong Kong Baptist University’s Dr Lian-Hee Wee, Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao’s Danwei Gao, and the University of Macau’s Prof John Corbett.
Academics on English teaching
Prof Rodney Jones from City University of Hong Kong believes training programmes should develop language teachers’ digital literacy.
Prof Rodney Jones
Glenn Davis from Tsinghua University explains how a previous study shows ambiguous empirical support for any purported pedagogical value associated with songs.
Glenn Davis
UIC English Language Lecturer Kelly Parker discusses self-regulated reading comprehension strategy selection through diagnostic prescriptive instruction.
Kelly Parker
Hong Kong Baptist University Dr Lian-Hee Wee explores the possibility of equipping teachers with suitable improvisation techniques for the classroom.
Dr Lian-Hee Wee
Danwei Gao from Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao speaks on how to balance English language acquisition and understanding of Mandarin and Chinese culture.
Danwei Gao
The University of Macau’s Prof John Corbett says spoken corpus data can be used qualitatively to give insights into the ways in which conversation is a cultural phenomenon.
Prof John Corbett
The conference was organised by the Teaching English as a Second Language Programme.
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| TESL and CELL (Contemporary English Language and Literature Programme) students present their final year projects
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Reporter: Oceane Tan (ATS, Year 4)
Photographer: Shan Qiqing (IJ, Year 1) and Deen He
Editor: Deen He
(from MPRO, with special thanks to the ELC)
