4/28/01 Princeton University Conference on Chinese Language Instruction: Materials and Pedagogy

I was honored to attend Princeton University Conference on Chinese Language Instruction: Materials and Pedagogy on April 28, 2001. The conference began at 8:00 a.m. and lasted until 6:00 p.m. in which 32 speakers gave wonderful presentations on five different topics ranging from teaching methods, translation problems, grammar, multimedia aids, and teaching materials. 

One of my students attended the conference with me because she is very interested in foreign ethnic and authentic Chinese Language. We arrived one day earlier in order to observe and discuss with other educators on Chinese Language Instruction. There are 4 levels of the Chinese Language Program at Princeton University and I felt very pleased that our Chinese 101, 102 and 103 are similar to their levels one and two. Each class at Princeton is no more than 10 students, and small size classes for language teaching is one of their primary objectives. My student is from a combined Chinese 102 & 103 class, and she did an excellent job of speaking mixed Chinese with English while speaking with native speakers during dinnertime. 

I brought some journal writing samples and supplemental teaching materials from my classroom such as daily routines with picture aids to the conference, and I received positive feedback from other Chinese Instructors attending the conference. One instructor encouraged her students to try journal writing, but she never collected and made folders for each one. My ESL background allows me to be more flexible, and journal writing in my class is a requirement, and I collect, correct, and make folders for each student, so that was a unique requirement in the conference.

Various colleges and universities use handy multimedia aids such as web sites and video-clips for their students. I have written down some of these useful web sites, and I will be able to link them from our web site. My students will be very pleased to enjoy them. 

In addition, I talked with Professor Zhou, who is also the director of the Chinese Program at Princeton, about the possibility of applying for different grants to study abroad and course development. I will receive this information within the next few weeks. 

I appreciated the support from our college, and I am looking forward to inviting guest speakers to our college.