BCI Sponsored the Fourth International Symposium on Chinese Theoretical and Applied Linguistics in 2022

The Fourth International Symposium on Chinese Theoretical and Applied Linguistics (ISOCTAL-4) was on 20-21 June 2022, hybrid online and in person on the campus of The University of Leeds.

ISOCTAL is a bi-annual winter event and a high platform for frontline research in Chinese theoretical and applied linguistics, a promotion channel for global collaboration across disciplines and a network for future development and innovation. Our Business Confucius Institute at the University of Leeds sponsored the conference of this year.

Over 40 renowned professors in the field of Chinese Linguistics and Chinese Teaching attended the conference, including experts from Peking University, University College Cork (Ireland), University of Venice (Italy). Discussion included the theory, practice and reflection of Chinese grammar; Chinese teaching and learning; Chinese language online discourse and the construction and application of new technology and new products in Chinese teaching.

On the first day, there were two keynote speeches. In the morning, Professor Zhao Yang from Peking University talked about some specific characteristics and general principles of international Chinese language education standards. In the afternoon of the same day, Professor Wang Jun, from Shanghai Jiaotong University, delivered the second keynote speech about how does background knowledge affect second language reading? from his analysis of an eye movement study.

On the second day, Professor He Lin , from Wu Han University, shared with the attendees her established field research on the construction and communication of the Chinese linguistic discourse system. Later Professor Yuan Boping from Cambridge University and Professor Zhang Xinsheng from Richmond the American International University in London shared their great research on speech production mechanisms and the new Chinese proficiency grading standards respectively.

The conference ended with a great achievement. All BCI staff attended the conference and learned various new knowledge from the speakers. By the end of the conference, BCI executive director Dr Giles Blackburne delivered the closing speech, he said : "this conference provide an opportunity to open the door to make Chinese language easier to understand and easier to explain to others and to discuss all the work we do about Chinese language teaching and to make it accessible. I think this is a terrific program. It is also a great privilege to sponsor the program."

Please find more details about the conference and their future plans on the conference website.