Kathleen M. Bailey, Ph.D.

Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey

 

Title of Talk: Innovation and Change in Foreign Language Teaching ( Click here for PPT)

As suggested by the conference title, “The First Chinese Innovation Forum,” in this day and age, as language teaching professionals we must understand the innovations and change forces that surround us. Change is an ever-present factor in the professional lives of language teachers. Learners’ needs, developments in research, technology, and political and economic issues all constantly influence what we do in our classrooms. In this presentation I will define innovation and see what distinguishes innovation from change. We will then examine some of the factors that promote or hinder innovation in language teaching by considering several historically influential models of innovation. An example will be shared from foreign language curriculum development and implementation.

 

 

 

 

Peter Shaw, Ph.D.

Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey

 

Title of Talk: Innovative interactive tasks and critical thinking in the Chinese language classroom

Peter will describe and illustrate innovations in language pedagogy which relate learning to critical thinking, specifically those cognitive activities described in levels 5 and 6 (originally Synthesis and Evaluation; more recently, Evaluating and Creating) of Bloom’s Taxonomy.  One particular focus will be tasks labeled as creative brevity, opportunities for learners to express new understandings in a concise, engaging fashion. 

 

 

 

Shuhan C. Wang, Ph.D. 王周淑涵

President

ELE Consulting International, LLC

 

Title of Talk: Innovation by Design and Collaboration

Chinese language teachers are often the lone soldiers in a school, expected to simultaneously function as teacher, material developer, assessor, program builder, and program coordinator. Where do they find the time to innovate? How do they identify areas on which to focus and then take steps towards operationalizing their innovations? Finally, how do they gauge whether their innovation has produced any impact? This presentation takes an ecological perspective to offer Chinese language teachers a framework and a tool kit with which they may engage in innovation through mindful design, purposeful collaboration, and reflective practices.