On July 2, 2022, under the leadership of Ms. Li Hao, all the students of Grade 20 from the Department of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages started a three-day summer teaching practice training. The main content of this practical training was online language teaching practice and lecture competition, which consisted of three major parts: the series of academic lectures on Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages Education given by Professor Liang Xia, the series of online language teaching lectures given by Ms. Zhang Minrong, and the class competition for all the students of Grade 20 in small groups.

The lecturer of the Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages Education, Professor Liang Xia, is the head of the Chinese Language Program in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Washington University (St. Louis). In the lecture, Prof. Liang Xia, with her dedication and profound knowledge, provided students with a detailed and comprehensive overview of three topics: “Examples of Chinese Teaching in American Universities,” “Research on the Development of Chinese Teaching Textbooks in the U.S.,” and “Cultural Teaching Issues in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages Teaching” through a live webcast. In the lecture, Prof. Liang Xia explained how to be a good Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages teacher in the present time, which made every student of Grade 20 from the Department of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages deeply impressed and enlightened.

In the section of “Research on the Development of Chinese Teaching Textbooks in the U.S.”, Prof. Liang Xia explained the importance of teaching textbooks and a brief history of the development of Chinese teaching textbooks in the U.S., making the students realize the close relationship between the teaching textbooks and the effectiveness of teachers’ teaching. Teachers should take the initiative to make appropriate adjustments to the teaching textbooks. Promoting the development of Chinese teaching textbooks has an important value that cannot be ignored in promoting Chinese teaching.

In the section of “Examples of Chinese Teaching in American Universities”, Prof. Liang Xia introduced examples of teaching in beginner, intermediate and advanced classes to help students understand how to implement teaching for different levels of students in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages Education. The students applied the principles and skills they learned to the lecture competition, which made the competition even more wonderful.

In the section of “Cultural Teaching Issues in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages Teaching”, Prof. Liang Xia shared her latest thesis with the students, suggesting that an output-oriented model of teaching culture and national conditions should be built and illustrated with examples, which was very inspiring.

The online language teaching workshop is a new addition to this practical training in the context of the times and is a special and innovative feature of this internship. The presenter, Ms. Zhang Minrong, is a registered teacher with the Scottish Teachers’ Association and has extensive experience in teaching overseas both online and offline. The lectures covered “the importance of active learning and fun learning”, “introduction to interactive tools for online language education”, “online training with some interactive tools”, and “case study analysis”.

Ms. Zhang Minrong introduced in detail the specific functions, operation methods, and applicable teaching activities, teaching contents, and teaching objects of 11 online language teaching interactive tools including CLASSROOMSCREEN, WHITEBOARD.FI, QUIZLET, and KAHOOT, which are highly interesting and practical.

Through the links shared by Ms. Zhang Minrong, the students were able to use these interactive teaching tools and broaden their horizons. It is believed that the content of Ms. Zhang Minrong’s lecture will become a reliable reserve of expertise for the students to use in appropriate teaching situations in the future.

The specific process of the lecture competition consisted of group discussion and preparation, group competition and lecture final. The students were divided into ten groups, and all members of each group worked together to prepare the lecture. After each student in the group took turns to try out the lecture, each group elected a representative to participate in the lecture final and then, the teachers and students will score together.

During the group lesson preparation and intra-group competition, students participated with positive attitude and modified the teaching content and process under the guidance of Ms. Li Hao, so that the lesson preparation and intra-group competition could be advanced in an orderly and efficient way. In the lecture final, students showed their skills and presented their styles, and the performance of each finalist was remarkable. Prof. Liang Xia gave professional comments to the finalists, which gave the students a more realistic understanding of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages Education.

The practical training was rich in content and diverse in form, closely integrated with foreign perspectives, broadening students’ academic horizons through online lectures by overseas instructors,  closely integrated with the background of the times, enriching students’ knowledge in modern teaching methods through the series of the online language education lecture and closely integrated with teaching practice, exercising students’ ability to apply theory through lecture competition. It is believed that after this practical training, all the students of Grade 20 from the Department of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages will be able to better improve their personal abilities in their future study career and become excellent standby talents in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages language education.