2024 Conference on British Chinese language teaching

The 21st International Conference on Chinese Language Teaching in Higher Education and the 2024 Annual International Conference of the British Chinese Language Teaching Society were jointly held at the University of Newcastle.

The theme of this conference was "International Chinese Education in the Era of Digital Intelligence: Exploring the Synergistic Development of Language, Culture, and Technology."

From the Confucius Institute at the University of Southampton (CI), Dr Jiangzhi Zhang, the Chinese Director, and Mr Tao Peng, a Mandarin teacher delivered presentations titled "A Study of Form and Function in Grammatical Systems" and "Research on Chinese Character Teaching Based on the Flipped Learning of the 'Visit to China' Project" respectively.

Ms Yutian Hu, another Mandarin teacher, and Miss Jiani Li, a volunteer teacher showcased their research through posters titled "Exploration of Teaching Strategies for Chinese Character Recognition in the Era of Digital Intelligence" and "Analysis of the Biased Errors of Separable Words from The Perspective of Prosodic Grammar" respectively.

During the three-day conference, the four teachers from the CI extensively exchanged ideas with scholars, greatly benefiting from the feedback and broadening their perspectives.

Ms Yutian Hu remarked, "Through exchanges with other participants, I've learned many new research methods and viewpoints, which will positively impact my future academic work." Miss Jiani Li expressed gratitude, saying, "This was the first large-scale academic conference in my life. I sincerely appreciate the organisers and all participants for their support and help. I hope to have more opportunities like this in my future academic career."

Mr Tao Peng noted, "The conference advanced innovative digital constructions in international Chinese education, and I gained a lot from this academic feast." Chinese Director Dr Jiangzhi Zhang chaired a sub-forum, describing the conference as 'a successful academic feast.'

The CI fosters a supportive research environment by regularly hosting research seminars and encouraging teachers to participate in academic conferences. This reflects its educational approach of being 'campus-based, community-oriented, promoting education through culture, and enhancing quality through research.'