National Pedagogical Workshop on Campus:
Chinese Language Textbooks & Teaching — Authors Meet Teachers and Students
http://authorsmeetusersatnotredame.weebly.com/
The Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures hosted a Chinese Pedagogical Workshop, “Chinese Language Textbooks & Teaching–Authors Meet Teachers and Students,” on Saturday, April 9, 2016, with the generous support from Center for Study of Languages and Cultures, Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning, Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, and Office of Undergraduate Studies for Arts and Letters.
The workshop was a big success. It was a cold and snowing day, but the atmosphere in 112-114 McKenna Hall was warm and the participants in the workshop were enthusiastic. Authors of Integrated Chinese—the most popular Chinese language textbook series in the US—and leading Chinese language pedagogues from across the country met faculty and students from Notre Dame and many other institutions including the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, University of Michigan, and IU-Bloomington.
This was the first-ever event to bring together authors of a prominent Chinese language textbook series and its users in a lively discussion of important pedagogical issues. The authors and pedagogues shared valuable insights and experiences in textbook compilation and language teaching, which received feedback from workshop participants, all of which generated enlightening dialogue. The participants from other institutions were particularly impressed by the panels formed respectively by instructors and students from the Chinese Language Program at Notre Dame, who offered remarkable presentations.
Visitors left with a strongly favorable impression of the workshop, and we have good reason to believe that this event has significantly helped raise the profile not only of our Chinese Language Program but of Asian studies as a whole at Notre Dame. –GE Liangyan and YE Weibing