
Chinese Teaching in Scotland – Workshop 4, Friday 28 January 2022
Join us for the fourth workshop in our Chinese Teaching in Scotland workshop series, when three highly experienced speakers from the United States, England, and Scotland explore digital assessment design and use in university and school contexts. This workshop is jointly organised by the Confucius Institute for Scotland in the University of Edinburgh and the British Chinese Language Teaching Society.
Workshop Title: The Design and Use of Digital Assessment in Chinese Language Courses
Date and Time: Friday, 28 January 2022, 15:00-16:30 (BST)
Location: online via Zoom
Registration: All welcome, but booking is required. Please book your place HERE
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Speaker 1: Dr. Jiahang Li, Michigan State University
Talk Title: Language Assessment in an Online Environment
Biography:
Dr. Jiahang Li is an assistant professor and Online Chinese Program Director at the College of Education, Michigan State University. He earned a Ph.D. degree in Curriculum and Instruction from University of Maryland College Park, and M. A. and B.A degrees in Chinese Classical Philology from the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Peking University, China. His research interests include educational technology, social media, online language teaching and learning, and world language teacher education. He has published many book chapters and journal articles and serves as an editorial board member and reviewer for many peer-reviewed journals.
Abstract:
This session focuses on language assessment in an online environment. The presenter will first explain definition and categories of language assessment, then introduce language standards and Chinese language assessment instruments, and finally describe how to create an assessment plan. Participants will be able to understand the principles and process for designing assessments for online Chinese language teaching and learn various digital tools for assessing students’ learning in online settings.
Speaker 2: Jia Li, Bohunt Education Trust
Talk Title: Conduct AFL in a Creative Way
Biography:
Jia Li is a Mandarin teacher and PGCE Mandarin Subject Mentor at Bohunt Education Trust. She has been working in the UK since 2014. She has also worked for CI at University of Southampton, University of Wroclaw, Poland prior to her work at Bohunt. She has an MA in Applied Linguistics, PGCE with QTS. Her current work focuses specifically on delivery of KS4 GCSE, HSK3, KS5 HSK4&5 and Cambridge Pre-U curriculum, as well as CLIL Drama, Art, PSRE etc. Apart from teaching, she also train Mandarin PGCE student teachers and conducts research on CLIL teaching, she is a co-author of a research paper on Motivating and Demotivating Factors for Mandarin Chinese Learners in a British CLIL Programme, Journal of Foreign Language Annals (under review)
Abstract:
We have encountered many challenges during the pandemic, but one thing we, as educators, have learnt or “benefited” from is becoming more creative in our teaching, and drawing attention via computers. During my workshop, I am going to introduce some useful Apps, e.g., Nearpod, Kahoot, Quizlet. By using these higher engagement tasks, we can monitor students’ understanding of character writing, grammar structures, and encourage students to develop learning autonomy. We can also support SEND students by using different visual and audio aids, as well as stretch more advanced learners to improve vocabulary development through contexualised vocabulary acquisition.
Pupils are also motivated by the element of competition, which encourages them to participate and develop their language skills and confidence. Through using these Apps, we not only engage students more, but also reduce our workload as most Apps can mark for us automatically and run learning reports.
Speaker 3: Min Yue, University of Edinburgh
Talk Title: A case study: Using Google Forms to conduct the Chinese 2A online entrance test
Biography:
Yue Min worked for several years as an English and Chinese teacher in China, after completing her BA in Language Teaching Methodology. She moved to the UK in 2009 to undertake an MA in Chinese/English Interpreting at Middlesex University, under the UK’s leading Chinese interpreter Dr Kevin Lin (Lin Chaolun). Following a spell as an Interpreter and translator, Yue Min moved back into Chinese language teaching, working as a teacher and programme leader for the University of East London and London School of Economics. She became a full time Teaching Fellow at the University of Edinburgh in 2017, and is currently in charge of Foundation Chinese Language Programme and Course organizers for UG and foundation courses. Her research interests lie in the fields of Language Teaching Methodology and Technology Enhanced Learning in language teaching.
Abstract:
Chinese 2A is a degree course for pre-intermediate level students at the University of Edinburgh. Students who are willing to take this course must pass the Chinese 2A entrance test. In previous years, this test was assessed on campus, in the classroom. However, when the pandemic hit, the test was shifted online. I tried to use MS form, Blackboard Learn test, then finally decided to use Google Forms which is more suitable and has more functions than other platforms. In this workshop, I will compare and assess these three platforms, as well as giving more details about how I designed the test and shared the test with our students using Google Form.