Book Reviews by Kaishan Kong
Modern Language Journal, 2013
Papers (Refereed/peer-reviewed) by Kaishan Kong
The Modern Language Journal, 2022
Recent global social unrest-anti-Asian violence in particular-was a wake-up call compelling Chine... more Recent global social unrest-anti-Asian violence in particular-was a wake-up call compelling Chinese language teachers to not only reflect on their emotions but also actively incorporate social justice in their curriculum and instruction. Yet, research on social justice in Chinese language classrooms is scarce. Building on recent work on teacher agency, this study investigated 10 Chinese language teachers, originally from mainland China and Taiwan, about their understandings and practices of social justice in their teaching. Findings identified 3 major dimensions that influenced their understandings and practicesnamely, community, curriculum, and, more importantly, culture. (Re)shaping their understandings and adapting pedagogical skills were ongoing processes through which the teachers experienced complex feelings, support, and challenges; nonetheless, they drew on their agency to embed social justice in their teaching, manifested through (a) centering social justice topics in curriculum and instruction, and (b) creating a justice-oriented environment. This study explored social justice in the landscape of Chinese language education and provides implications for teaching and teacher education.
Second Language Research & Practice, 2021
The study reported in this article was carried out in a Chinese language class at the college lev... more The study reported in this article was carried out in a Chinese language class at the college level to explore the benefits and challenges of language scaffolding through interactions between pairs consisting of a Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) learner and a Chinese Native Speaker (CNS). The CNSs were international students on campus. CNS and CFL learners formed tandem learning dyads to support each other's language and exchange cultural knowledge on given topics. Data included students' discussions, writing samples, and reflective interviews. Research findings revealed that the CNS provided corrective feedback through various strategies and that the CFL learner's Chinese was improved through language correction and language expansion. However, a number of challenges emerged for future improvement, including a lack of training on providing corrective feedback, unstable partnerships, and time constraints. This article includes suggestions for language program directors and instructors as they consider how to include their international student body in curriculum design.
Journal of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages, 2020
This study examined how Chinese language teachers, through profound reflective practice in a nati... more This study examined how Chinese language teachers, through profound reflective practice in a national professional workshop, developed their teacher cognition of culture and teaching culture in a Chinese language class. Results showed that despite the teacher participants' varied teaching experiences and prior knowledge in this area, in-depth reflective practice compelled their perceptions of culture to be more dimensional, fluid and relative. They also planned to shift their pedagogy from imposing culture knowledge as an addition, to instilling culture in language classrooms through a collective inquiry. For less commonly taught languages such as Chinese, such research is scarce yet desirable as it not only explores connections between teachers' personal experience with teaching practice, but also offers implications to future teacher training programs. Introduction In the last two decades, the capacity of foreign language teaching has expanded from a sole focus on training students how to speak a language to a more diversified goal to help students achieve culturally appropriate communicative skills. Learners are expected to develop "the ability to interact effectively and appropriately with people from other language and cultural backgrounds," through "intentional goal-setting and self-reflection around language and culture and involves attitudinal changes toward one's own and other cultures" (ACTFL, 2017). Tolosa et al. (2018) noted, "(t)his complex interplay between language learning and learners' development of cultural competencies to navigate an increasingly multilingual and interconnected world, i.e., developing intercultural communicative competence, has become the main focus of school language curricula and language pedagogy initiatives around the world" (p. 228). The mission to develop students' intercultural communicative competence focuses much attention to reforming curricula, implementing innovative pedagogies, and offering robust professional training to prepare teachers for this aspiring mission. Are our teachers ready for this challenge to integrate culture in a language classroom? What can professional development do to foster teachers' understanding of culture and integrating culture in language education? These questions supplied the motivation for this study. The present research aimed to examine in what way(s) teachers develop their cognition of culture and how to teach culture in a foreign language classroom, through reflective practice in a professional development program. In particular, the growth of Chinese as a less commonly taught language calls for more research and understanding in this area. This study asks the following questions:
Science Journal of Education, 2016
This qualitative study is set in the context of a two-week professional development summer instit... more This qualitative study is set in the context of a two-week professional development summer institute for Chinese language teachers. This institute had the luxury of involving four language instructors, one from the U.S., one from Austria, one from Taiwan and one from China. In addition to different ethnic and academic backgrounds, they brought various personalities and connections with Chinese language teacher training. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to investigate how the instructors learned from their collaboration throughout the institute. Data sources include reflective journals, instructors' meeting minutes, videos of instruction and in-depth interviews. With constant comparative analysis, this paper explores the importance of multicultural collaboration among teacher educators and shed light on the nature of their learning.
Learning Languages, 2015
Exploring CREATIVITY and INNOVATION through Language Learning 2 fall/winter 2015 NNELL REPRESENTA... more Exploring CREATIVITY and INNOVATION through Language Learning 2 fall/winter 2015 NNELL REPRESENTATIVES NNELL EXECUTIVE BOARD LEARNING LANGUAGES EDITORS As a national organization, NNELL operates through a network of state representatives. You could help NNELL to continue with its mission by becoming a representative of your state. As a State Representative, you will serve as an advocate for early language learning, heighten public awareness of foreign languages in elementary and middle school education, serve as state representative for NNELL to your state language association and ensure that foreign languages in grades K-8 are recognized as a priority matter in your state.
Book Chapters by Kaishan Kong
Transnational perspectives on innovation in teaching and learning technologies , 2018
Study Abroad Contexts for Enhanced Foreign Language Learning A volume in the Advances in Linguistics and Communication Studies (ALCS) Book Series, 2018
Palgrave Studies on Chinese Education in a Global Perspective International Students in China Education, Student Life and Intercultural Encounters, 2018
Handbook of Research on Study Abroad Programs and Outbound Mobility, 2016
Conference Proceedings by Kaishan Kong
International Proceedings of Economics Development and Research, 2012
Women are an active group of sojourners to travel to different cultures for various reasons, and ... more Women are an active group of sojourners to travel to different cultures for various reasons, and marriage is one of them. Women's experience in intercultural relationships may be connected with their backgrounds, values and other factors related to their ethnicity. This case study investigates three women from various backgrounds and explores their perspectives and experiences in their intercultural relationships. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge base of women's intercultural life and to illuminate the importance of intercultural communication in intimate relationships.
The 14th International Conference on Chinese Language Pedagogy proceedings, 2017
This paper described a Five-Dimension Reflective Pedagogy Model used in a professional developmen... more This paper described a Five-Dimension Reflective Pedagogy Model used in a professional development program on Chinese culture teaching. It examined impacts of the Model on teachers' attitudes towards reflection in teaching and understanding of culture teaching in Chinese as a second language classrooms. Data included pre-and post-program reflections, video-taped cultural road map presentations, daily reflective writing, and lesson plans. The Model led to teachers' positive attitudes towards the use of reflection in teaching, enhanced confidence in culture teaching, and complicated understandings of culture.
Essays/Invited by Kaishan Kong
The Modern Language Journal, 2019
Teaching Chinese in International Contexts, 2015
This article is reflecting on a faculty-led community service and research project in China. Thre... more This article is reflecting on a faculty-led community service and research project in China. Three undergraduate Chinese language learners from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire traveled to China to teach a three-week English summer camp for underserved children. From both the faculty and the participants’ perspectives, this article documents the successes and lessons from the project, shares students’ cultural experience and discusses its significant implications. The discussion is illuminating to both educators and researchers to further investigate the learning opportunities in study abroad.
Papers by Kaishan Kong
Multilingual Matters eBooks, Dec 30, 2024
Educational linguistics, Dec 31, 2022
The Modern Language Journal, Feb 21, 2013
The article reviews the book "Experimental Methods in Language Acquisition Research," e... more The article reviews the book "Experimental Methods in Language Acquisition Research," edited by Elma Blom and Sharon Unsworth.
The study reported in this article was carried out in a Chinese language class at the college lev... more The study reported in this article was carried out in a Chinese language class at the college level to explore the benefits and challenges of language scaffolding through interactions between pairs consisting of a Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) learner and a Chinese Native Speaker (CNS). The CNSs were international students on campus. CNS and CFL learners formed tandem learning dyads to support each other’s language and exchange cultural knowledge on given topics. Data included students' discussions, writing samples, and reflective interviews. Research findings revealed that the CNS provided corrective feedback through various strategies and that the CFL learner’s Chinese was improved through language correction and language expansion. However, a number of challenges emerged for future improvement, including a lack of training on providing corrective feedback, unstable partnerships, and time constraints. This article includes suggestions for language program directors and i...
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Book Reviews by Kaishan Kong
Papers (Refereed/peer-reviewed) by Kaishan Kong
Book Chapters by Kaishan Kong
Conference Proceedings by Kaishan Kong
Essays/Invited by Kaishan Kong
Papers by Kaishan Kong
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