CALL FOR PAPERS （ 1st Call ）
The 18th International Conference on Teaching and Learning Chinese in Higher Education
The 2020 Annual International Conference of the British Chinese Language Teaching Society (BCLTS)
29 June-1st July 2020
Organised by the British Chinese Language Teaching Society (BCLTS)
Hosted and Co-organised by the Confucius Institute, Bangor University, UK
The British Chinese Language Teaching Society (BCLTS www.bclts.org.ac.uk ) is a non-profit organisation founded in 1997 as the academic society for Chinese language teachers and researchers from the UK universities. It is a sub-group of the British Association for Chinese Studies (BACs). The primary role of the Society is to work to enhance the quality of teaching of Chinese as a second/foreign language in Higher Education level and to promote research into international Chinese language education. In addition, it offers networking opportunities to Chinese language teachers all over the world. Currently, the BCLTS has around 100 individual members from nearly 50 UK universities and colleges, together with several institute members (Confucius institutes at different UK universities). In recent years, the BCLTS has been playing more and more active role in leading the British Chinese language teaching and research. After last year’s great success of our annual conference in conjunction with the Lancaster University Confucius Institute, we are very pleased to announce that the 18th International Conference of BCLTS, with the theme of Teaching Chinese as an International Language in the 5G Era is open for the submission of paper abstracts and workshop proposals now. The 18th International Annual Conference of BCLTS will be hosted and co-organized by the Confucius Institute at Bangor University from 29th June to 1st July 2020.
Founded in 1884 and located at the seaside of North Wales, Bangor University has a long tradition of academic excellence and is ranked in the top 40 in the UK for research, according to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014. The Confucius Institute at Bangor University benefits not only from the wealth of academic excellence and expertise at Bangor but also from that of its international partner, China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) in Beijing. The Confucius Institute is very proud to host and co-organise such a high-level conference at Bangor University.
The same as last year, we invite submission of papers both for conference Oral Presentation and for Poster Presentation. In addition, we also welcome workshop proposals of either half-hour or 50 minutes, which will cater to the needs of pedagogical practice in the field of TCFL. We warmly welcome practitioners, teachers and scholars from within and outside Chinese studies, culture studies, translation studies, Chinese linguistics and language teaching, to exhibit and share your knowledge, expertise, research and even experience to give guidance to the practice of teaching and learning Chinese as an international language. The conference will utilise various methods such as presentations, forums, workshops, group and panel discussions as well as posters. The details of our confirmed keynote speakers will be sent out shortly.
Suggested Topics but not be limited to these:
- The features of the 5G Era and the innovation and creativity of Chinese teaching pedagogy
- Chinese language textbooks, learning materials and picture books in the 5G Era – compilation, preparation and application
- AI development and modern Chinese teaching & learning technology
- Teaching Chinese as an international language in different social and political contexts: e.g. the impact of the Brexit
- Teaching Chinese to young learners, e.g. the Mandarin Excellence Programmes (MEP)
- History of Chinese language teaching in various countries
- Second language acquisition & TCFL, TCSL and TSIL
- Diversity in language skills and global Chinese language education
- Teaching Chinese as a community or minority language in a non-Chinese speaking countries
- Global Chinese teachers professional development, training and career support
- Cross-cultural communication – issues and strategies in teaching Chinese as an international language
- Teaching Chinese at Confucius Institute and other non-official organisations
- Translation and Chinese language teaching and learning
- Literature and Chinese language teaching and learning
Keynote speakers
- to be confirmed later
Important dates
- 28th February 2020: Deadline for abstract submission
- 16th March 2020: Notification of results and sending out the invitation letter if required
- 16th April 2020: Early-bird registration deadline
- 16th May 2020: Conference full paper submission closed, entry for Excellent Paper competition submission closed
- 1st June 2020: Conference registration closed
Conference fees
BCLTS members: free
- Non-member delegates: £170
- International Forum of the Chinese Language Teachers Top 500 Members: £150
- PhD/MA students (Please supply proof): £85
Early-bird registration (before 16th April registration):
- Non-member delegates registration fees: £150
- International Forum of the Chinese Language Teachers Top 500 Members: £130
- PhD/MA students (Please supply proof): £65
The Conference dinner: £30 (optional)
The conference fee will cover all conference materials, services, social network activities, the 2nd evening meal, all three-day lunches and tea & coffee breaks
Other accommodation and travel expenses will be self-funded.
Abstract submission:
- Title of the paper and under which topic your presentation should be
- Full name and affiliation of the author(s)
- An abstract of approximately 260 words in English or 400 characters in Chinese
- The corresponding author’s e-mail address
- Please let us know if you need an invitation letter
The working languages of the conference will be English and Chinese. You can indicate your preference in presenting your paper: conference Oral Presentations or Poster Presentations.
If accepted, individual Oral Presentation papers will be allotted 20 minutes (plus 5 minutes discussion) while the Poster Presentation can be displayed during the whole conference time.
Full paper submission is encouraged before the conference and are entitled to enter the Excellent paper award competition. Papers will also be invited after the conference to be peer-reviewed and published in the conference proceedings.
Please email your abstract as an attachment in Word document to Dr Shejiao Xu by conference@bclts.org.uk. For any other inquiries, please email Dr Li LI at coordinator@bclts.org.uk.
For more information about the conference, please visit the BCLTS website: http://bclts.org.uk.
From this year onwards, the BCLTS will start the Best Paper Prize. Anyone submit the whole paper to our conference proceedings during the 1st May and 30th September will be eligible to enter the prize competition. We will organise the peers’ review, and the winners will be announced during the opening ceremony of the conference in the year after. You are very welcome to participate in it. Please feel free to forward this Call for Papers to those who might be interested in this Conference. Thank you very much!
The Executive Committee of the British Chinese Language Teaching Society The Organising Committee of the 18th International Conference
On Teaching and Learning Chinese in Higher Education