The President of Swarthmore College, Dr. Valerie Smith (third from right) and Director Min-Ling Yang (fourth from right) joined the opening ceremony of the Eighth International Conference on Teaching Chinese as a Second Language.
Through the intensive collaboration between the Education Division of TECO-NY and Chinese Program of Swarthmore College, the Eighth International Conference on Teaching Chinese as a Second Language was successfully held at Swarthmore College on June 9-10. The Ministry of Education in Taiwan joining with the Penelope Mason '57 Memorial Fund, and the Henry Luce Foundation were the major sponsors of this year’s conference. This also marked a significant milestone as it was the first time this conference series had taken place in North America. Dr. Valerie Smith, President of Swarthmore College, delivered the opening remarks at the opening ceremony. Dr. Tomoko Sakomura, Provost and Dean of the Faculty, delivered the closing speech. Representing the MOE in Taiwan, Director Min-ling Yang from the Education Division of TECO-NY attended the event and delivered welcome remarks. In addition, Professor Yuan Liang from the Education University of Hong Kong, the originating institution of this conference series also expressed her wishes for its successful outcome.
The Eighth International Conference on Teaching Chinese as a Second Language aimed to promote theoretical research and development of international Chinese language teaching as well as to foster cross-cultural exchange. Previous sessions have already established this series of conferences as an important academic event in the field of global Chinese language teaching. In order to deepen educational cooperation between international institutions, participating in the conference were institutions from Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and an additional five colleges and universities located in the United States. A total of 154 papers were submitted from 23 countries and regions and there were 121 scholars attending the conference.
The conference also sought to encourage reflection and discussion concerning the challenges and issues we have encountered while teaching online and in person. During keynote addresses, workshops, and presentations, scholars from around the world shared the latest research and pedagogy in Chinese language teaching. Teachers and researchers of Chinese language from around the world met together, identified shared interests, perspectives, innovative pedagogy, and strategies for involving students in research. Furthermore, they discovered untapped resources in regard to interdisciplinary courses and future collaborations between institutions.