Yongfang Zhang
RESEARCH & SCHOLARLY INTERESTS
Background: Chinese linguistics, Chinese pedagogy
Research interests: Chinese language pedagogy, Chinese proficiency development and assessment, teacher training, program evaluation, cross-cultural competence
EDUCATION
Ph.D. Chinese Language Pedagogy, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, The Ohio State University, 2009
Dissertation: Performance-based Chinese L2 Reading Instruction: A Spiral Approach
M.A. Chinese Language Pedagogy, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, The Ohio State University, 2003
M.A. Chinese Linguistics focusing on Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, Chinese Language and Culture College, Beijing Normal University, 1998
B.A. Chinese Languages and Literatures, College of Chinese Language and Literature, Henan University, 1995
EMPLOYMENT
Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC
2017–present Associate Professor of Chinese
2013–present Chinese Program Coordinator
2010–2017 Assistant Professor of Chinese
Department of Modern Languages, University of Akron, Akron, OH
2007–2010 Chinese Instructor and Chinese Program Coordinator
Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
2006–2007 Chinese Lecturer
2001–2006 Graduate Teaching Assistant
Chinese Language and Culture College, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
1998–1999 Chinese Lecturer
1996–1998 Graduate Teaching Assistant
SUMMER TEACHING EXPERIENCES
ALLEX Chinese and Japanese Teacher Training Institute
2017–present Academic Team
2012–2017 Academic Advisory Board
2013–2016 Chinese Program Director
2010–2017 Trainer
Wharton-Lauder Chinese Summer Immersion Program in China, University of Pennsylvania
2012 Visiting Chinese Language Instructor
Summer Programs East Asian Concentration, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
2010 & 2006 Trainer
Other Summer Experiences
Jun 3–6, 2011 Trainer, offering a four-day intensive workshop to Chinese instructors at The Intensive Summer Language Institute at Northeast Normal University, a program of The U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs administrated by American Councils for International Education. Changchun, China.
Jul 8–21, 2009 Trainer in the two-week Pedagogical Training Workshop for Chinese Educators and Summer Camp of the Chinese Flagship Program, sponsored by the Office of Chinese Language Council International of China’s Ministry of Education and The Ohio State University Chinese Flagship Program. Qingdao, China.
PROFESSIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The American Council on The Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)
2016–present ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) Chinese Mandarin Tester Trainer
Responsibilities and credentials include: offering OPI workshops and supervising the certification process for workshop participants. Workshops offered: OPI Workshop (four-day), Modified OPI Assessment Workshop (two-day), OPI Familiarization Workshop (one-day), the Role of Grammar in the Development of Proficiency (one-day), Developing Interpretive Reading and Listening Proficiency (one-day), ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages (AAPPL) Familiarization Workshop (one-day)
2017–present ACTFL AAPPL Chinese Mandarin Quality Assurance Advisor
Responsibilities and credentials include: developing AAPPL items, participating in the test production, reviewing samples or test items, creating materials for use in ongoing quality assurance activities (e.g., rationales, norming, calibration activities, benchmark samples, discrepancies write-ups, etc.), hosting office hours to support raters, and hosting webinars for AAPPL Certification
2014–2017 Reviewer for ACTFL/Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation program reports
The Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA)
2016–present Start and lead a Special Interest Group “Intercultural Competence for Chinese Teachers and for Chinese Learners: Supporting Chinese Teachers on Developing Students’ Intercultural Competence,” approved by the CLTA Board
The Chinese Language Association of Secondary-Elementary Schools (CLASS)
2023 CLASS CIRCLE (Chinese Immersion: Research, Curriculum, Learning and Evaluation) Conference. Advisory board and guest speaker
STARTALK Central, National Foreign Language Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
2019–2021 Team Leader for STARTALK programs
2018–2019 Site Visitor for STARTALK Chinese programs
2009–2011 External Reviewer for STARTALK Proposals
Critical Language Scholarship (CLS), American Councils for International Education
2015–present Campus advisor for CLS at Wofford College
2015–present Evaluator for CLS applications
Other Invited External Review Experiences
2023 Reviewer of articles for Journal of International Chinese Teaching
2022 Invited External Reviewer for faculty promotion and tenure
2017 Reviewer of an article for the journal The Chinese as a Second Language
2014 Reviewer for the Chinese Program at Wabash College
PUBLICATIONS
2023 Developing a PCA-Informed Learning Spiral for a Beginner-Level STARTALK Chinese Program. In J. Wang & J. Jia (Eds.), Performed Culture in Action to Teach Chinese as a Foreign Language: Integrating PCA into Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Assessment (pp. 27-36). New York: Routledge, 2023. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003199090
2021 Contextualizing Grammar Instruction at the Novice and Intermediate Levels: A Reflection on Grammar Instruction from a Cognitive Perspective. Journal of International Chinese Teaching, 2021 (1), 59-67.
2020 The Understanding of Context in Performed Culture Approach and Context Design in a Non-Chinese Language Environment. International Chinese Language Education, 2020 (2), 60-68.
2019 Teaching Chinese culture in a non-Chinese environment — An example of elementary and intermediate Chinese instruction in the USA. Journal of International Chinese Teaching, 2019 (2), 56-64.
2015 Teacher cognition of overseas teaching context and adjustment of instructional strategies: A reflection based on personal teaching experiences in U.S.A. Journal of International Chinese Teaching, 2015 (4), 16-29.
2013 A CIP spiral performance-based model for beginner level Chinese L2 reading instruction. The Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association (JCLTA), 2013, 48 (2), 91-118.
2012 Integrating authentic written texts into beginning Chinese reading instruction. The Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association (JCLTA), 2012, 47 (1), 43-60.
2010 Best practices for blended Chinese courses offered to face-to-face classroom and distance sites simultaneously. The Proceedings of 6th International Conference on Technology and Chinese Language Teaching (TCLT 6), 283-287. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University.
2010 How Chinese native speakers handle written style material in reading and its application in second language acquisition. In M. K. M. Chan & H. Kang (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics (NACCL-20) (Vol. 1, 327-342). Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University.
1999 How do foreign students use Chinese idioms — An error analysis. Applied Linguistics, 1999 (3), 25-30.
1999 Analysis of the relationship between the position and the semantics of Chinese adverb ‘dou’. Journal of Beijing Normal University (Social Science Edition), 1999, 84-88.
INVITED PRESENTATIONS & WORKSHOPS
KEYNOTE SPEECH
Nov 1, 2014 Keynote Speaker at CLTA National Capital Region (CLTA-NCR) Chinese Language Teacher Conference. University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
Oct 21, 2010 Keynote Speaker at The Annual Minnesota Chinese Language Teachers meeting. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, MN.
INVITED PRESENTATIONS
Dec 21, 2022 “Backward design to implement the Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards for International Chinese Language Education”. Workshop invited to Beijing Language University and Beijing Language University Press.
Dec 9, 2022 “Providing effective platform for diverse Chinese learners,” International Forum on Chinese Program Brand Building, co-hosted by Chinese Language Teachers Association, Journal of International Chinese Teaching, and Phoenix Tree Publishing Inc.
Jul 3, 2022 “Using backward design to explore the application of Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards for International Chinese Language Education in Chinese teaching,” Global Webinar Series “CFL teaching in U.S.A.” hosted by Beijing Language University and Beijing Language University Press.
Aug 7, 2021 Presented at Theme D “Assess What Matters: How and Why,” The 2021 Chinese Language Association of Secondary-Elementary Schools (CLASS) Symposium “Refresh, Recharge, Reimage: Refresh your practice & Reimage Teaching in New School Year”, hosted by CLASS, the national association of K-12 Chinese teachers.
May 29, 2021 “How to Implement Performed Culture Approach at Chinese Heritage Classrooms,” The Chinese School Association in the United States (CSAUS) Workshop, hosted by CSAUS, the national association of Chinese heritage weekend schools in U.S.A.
May 22, 2021 “From ‘Structure-Function-Culture’ to ‘Function-Culture-Structure’: A Revisit of Chinese Instructions at the Novice and Intermediate levels,” CLTA SIG Webinar hosted by CLTA SIG group “Teaching CFL to Elementary and Intermediate Learners”.
May 15, 2021 “Promoting Heritage Chinese Learner Autonomy through Cognitively Interactive and Engaging Learning Activities,” The Lecture Hall hosted by Chinese Language and Culture Education Foundation of China.
Apr 8, 2021 “Integrating ACTFL Proficiency in Chinese Courses,” Chinese Program Annual Workshop, Yale University.
Dec 19, 2020 “Developing CFL Learners’ Cross-cultural Communicative Competence through Backward Design,” Global Webinar Series “CFL teaching in U.S.A.” hosted by Beijing Language University and Beijing Language University Press.
Dec 12, 2020 “Language Proficiency and Performance: What are They, How to Assess, and How to Apply in K-16 CFL Instruction,” The CLTA-National Capital Region Symposium 2020 Fall/Winter “Assessment of Articulation of Chinese During and After the Pandemic: Bridging K-12 and College Chinese Teaching”.
Oct 25, 2021 “Promoting CFL Learners’ Cross-cultural Communicative Competence,” The Lecture Hall hosted by Chinese Language and Culture Education Foundation of China.
Sep 26, 2020 “ACTFL Language Assessment and its Application at K-12 Chinese Instruction,” CLASS Frontline.
Sep 12, 2020 “Formative Assessment in CFL Instruction,” The Global Webinar “Teaching Chinese Online under the New Global Challenge: Reflection and Expectation” hosted by Beijing Language University and Beijing Language University Press.
Aug 28, 2020 Served on a panel and provided online practicum workshop to coach a dozen Chinese heritage weekend school teachers, invited by CSAUS.
Jul 18, 2020 “Performed Culture Approach and Its Application on Teaching Heritage Chinese Learners”, CSAUS Forum “Oversea Chinese Education Talk”.
Jun 6, 2020 Presented at “Moving Chinese Teaching Forward in the Post-pandemic Era”, invited by CLASS.
Oct 11, 2019 Invited by STARTALK Central to present a two-hour workshop “Performance Assessment Tasks: Using Backward Design to Create a STARTALK Curriculum” at the STARTALK Fall Conference with a theme “TELL-ing About Our Principles in Practice”, Phoenix, AZ.
May 2018 Presented in the panel “Developing an Effective Model for Contextualized Language Learning” at the 2018 National Chinese Language Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, invited and sponsored by STARTALK Central.
Nov 4, 2017 Invited by STARTALK Central to present at a Reflection Focus Panel and offer an Application Workshop titled “Enhancing L2 learning through digital storytelling and contextualized tasks” at the STARTALK Fall Conference, Portland, OR.
Oct 15, 2016 Invited by STARTALK Central to lead a Program Implementation Strategies Session titled “MEE: Motivate, Engage, and Empower Learners” at the STARTALK Fall Conference. Atlanta, GA.
Jul 25, 2014 Invited by the STARTALK Teacher Training Program at College of the Holy Cross to offer a Skype session titled “Develop Literacy through Task-based Reading and Writing Activities”.
Dec 6, 2009 Invited speaker at The Ohio State University-Ohio Department of Education Annual Conference on K-12 Chinese, Columbus, OH.
Dec 5, 2008 Invited speaker at The Ohio State University–Ohio Department of Education Annual Conference on K-12 Chinese, Columbus, OH.
INVITED WORKSHOPS
April 3, 2023 Bridging Chinese Learning and Teaching, workshop invited by the Chinese Flagship Program at University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS.
Nov 12, 2018 Proficiency and its Application in Chinese Courses, one-day workshop at Cornerstone Immersion School, Palo Alto, CA.
Apr 1, 2017 How to Improve Students’ Proficiency, one-day workshop invited by Ohio Association of Teachers of Chinese. Columbus, OH.
Feb 4, 2017 One-day ALLEX Refresh Workshop, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Boston, MA.
Jan 27, 2016 One-day ALLEX Refresh Workshop, MIT. Boston, MA.
May 10, 2014 Integrating Tasks in Four Skills in Language Curriculum for Teachers of Chinese, one-day workshop for K-16 Chinese language instructors sponsored by Confucius Institute and Department of Modern Languages at University of Akron, Akron, OH.
Dec 1–2, 2012 Teaching Chinese in the U.S.: Current Trends, Teacher Responsibilities, and Students Expectations, two-day workshop for K-16 Chinese language instructors sponsored by Confucius Institute and Department of Modern Languages at University of Akron, Akron, OH.
Fall, 2011 Trainer and Organizer. Teaching Seminars for Chinese Language Instructors, sponsored by The Confucius Institute at Presbyterian College.
2009–2010 Six professional development workshops for the University of Akron Ohio Core Program completers and regional teachers of Mandarin Chinese, sponsored by Confucius Institute at University of Akron, Akron, OH.
2008–2009 Three professional development seminars for Chinese Language Teachers, sponsored by The Ohio State University K-12 Chinese Flagship Program, Columbus, OH and Beachwood, OH.
2008 Invited Consultant, Prudential Relocation Inc. Conducted presentations on Cross Cultural Analysis: Social Dimensions, Intercultural Communications, Intercultural Resource Consultant. Warren, OH.
CONFERENCE PRESETNATIONS
June 2023 Will present “Incorporating Chinese Thinking Patterns into Chinese Grammar Instruction” at the Eighth International Conference on Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, Swarthmore College, PA.
April 2023 Presented “Gamification of Pre-camp Learning” at 2023 STARTALK Spring Conference, Baltimore, MD.
April 2023 Present as a guest for the Panel Forum “Reflection on the Immersion Journey and Staying on the Path to Success”, and as a moderator for the breakout session “Language Proficiency: Showcase Successful Programs“, at Chinese Immersion: Research, Curriculum, Learning and Evaluation Conference, Washington, D.C.
March 2023 Present “Contextualizing Chinese Grammar Instruction: A Reflection from A Cognitive Perspective”, at the 2023 Chinese Language Teachers Association Annual Conference, Washington, D.C.
Nov 2019 Presented in the panel “Effective Strategies for Implementing SLA Theory into the Classroom”, ACTFL Annual Conference, Washington, DC.
Nov 2018 Presented at the 13th International Chinese Language Teaching Seminar, Beijing, China.
Nov 2017 Chaired the panel “Developing Intercultural Communicative Competence across Chinese Curriculum,” and presented “Intercultural Communicative Competence across Chinese Curriculum,” ACTFL/CLTA Annual Conference, Nashville, TN.
Apr 2017 Chaired the panel “MEE: Motivate, Engage, and Empower Learners to Take Ownership of Learning from Input to Output,” and presented “Facilitating the Learning Process,” National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL) Conference, Chicago, IL.
Nov 2016 Presented “Building Chinese Teachers’ Intercultural Competence through Guided Learning,” ACTFL/CLTA Annual Conference, Boston, MA.
Nov 2015 Chaired the panel “Enhancing Teaching Skills and Cultural Competence for Pre-service Teachers,” and presented “Cultural Competence Training for Pre-Service Chinese Teachers,” ACTFL/ CLASS/CLTA Annual Conference, San Diego, CA.
Jul 2015 Presented “Awareness of and Adaptation to Local Instructional Environment in U.S.A. by International Chinese Teachers,” The Fifth Forum on the Nurture of International Chinese Teachers, Beijing, China.
Apr 2015 Presented “Developing a Task-based Chinese L2 Reading Curriculum,” National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL) Annual Conference, Washington D.C.
Apr 2014 Task-based Reading Instruction and Assessment, accepted for presentation at National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL) Annual Conference.
Dec 2013 Use Movies to Offer Differentiated Instruction in Intermediate and Above Level Chinese Instruction, accepted for presentation at the Fourth International Conference on Chinese Cinema, Beijing, China December, 2013.
Nov 2013 Presented “Tasks-based Strategies to Promote Proficiency in Beginner Chinese Reading Instruction,” ACTFL/CLTA Annual Conference, Orlando, FL.
Nov 2012 “Effects of Intentional Mobile-assisted Annotation on Incidental Chinese Vocabulary Learning,” accepted for presentation in CLTA Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA.
Aug 2012 Presented “Modular Teacher Training in Chinese Field,” the 11th International Conference on Chinese Language Teaching. Xi’an, China.
Nov 2011 Chaired the panel “Constructing Authentic Communication in Chinese Instruction,” and presented “Integrating Authentic Written Texts into Beginning Chinese Reading Instruction,” ACTFL/CLTA Annual Conference, Denver, CO.
Oct 2011 Presented “A K-12 Chinese Program (Goals, Pedagogy, Assessment) and Language in the Culture,” the Teaching Seminars for Chinese Language Instructors, sponsored by The Confucius Institute at Presbyterian College, Wofford College. Spartanburg, SC.
Nov 2010 Presented “Performance-based Reading Instruction in Chinese,” ACTFL/CLTA Annual Conference, Boston, MA.
Nov 2010 Presented “Raising the Bar in Chinese Language Instruction: Training the Trainers,” ACTFL Annual Conference, Boston, MA.
Jun 2010 Presented “Best Practices for Blended Chinese Courses Offered to Face-to-face Classroom and Distance Sites Simultaneously,” 6th International Conference on Technology and Chinese Language Teaching(TCLT6). Columbus, OH.
Apr 2010 Presented “Teaching Chinese through Performed Culture,” The 2010 National Chinese Language Conference. Washington, D.C.
Nov 2007 Presented “How Chinese Native Speakers Handle Written Style Material in Reading and its Application in Second Language Acquisition,” ACTFL/CLTA Annual Conference, San Antonio, TX.
May 2007 Presented “Developing and Documenting your Teaching Effectiveness – Through the Looking Glass: GATA Winners Discuss Documenting their Teaching Excellence and Judging that of Others,” The Ohio State University Academy of Teaching Mini-Conference on Great Teaching, Columbus, OH.
Nov 2006 Presented “Expanding the Future Writing Competence of Chinese Learners through Writing Strategy Instruction – A Mixed Analysis of a Chinese Writing Curriculum at Intermediate Level,” ACTFL/CLTA Annual Conference, Nashville, TN.
Apr 2003 Presented “Experimental Justification for Using Computer in Chinese Composition Courses – A Research from the Perspective of Readers,” The Midwest Conference on Asian History and Culture, Columbus, OH.
May 2003 Presented “Revolution Caused by Computers in the Written Communication from the Perspective of Reception and its Implication in Language Teaching and Testing,” Humanities Computing in the 21st Century, Columbus, OH.
Jul 2002 Presented “Some Thoughts and Suggestions on Teaching Writing Composition to Chinese Learners,” The Seventh International Symposium on Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, Shanghai, China.
Jul 1998 Presented “How do Foreign Students Use Chinese Idioms – An Error Analysis,” The Sixth National Symposium on Teaching as a Second Language of China, Dalian, China.
AWARDS & GRANTS
2013–2024 National Security Agency (NSA) – STARTALK grant to offer Chinese summer student program for 6-12th graders at Wofford College. Served as the Principal Investigator and the Program Director (2013 – 2024), and as the Lead Instructor (2013 – 2015)
2023 South Carolina Independent Colleges & Universities (SCICU) Undergraduate Student/Faculty Research Fund
2023 Summer Faculty-Student Collaborative Research, Wofford College ($10,100)
2022 Summer Interim Working Group, Wofford College
2021 & 2020 Summer Writing Group, Wofford College
2020 & 2011 Summer Research Grant, Wofford College
2019–2020 The Diversity and Inclusion Pedagogy Fellow, Wofford College
2018 The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation mini-grant ($4,000) for new General Education course development
2013 Second prize, Cengage Learning Award for my project entitled “Integrating Meaningful Tasks into Beginner-level Reading and Writing Instruction”
2010 E-Textbook Project Grant, Wofford College
2008 Institute for Teaching and Learning Faculty Grant, University of Akron
2007 Cheng & Tsui Professional Development Award
2006 Graduate Associate Teaching Award, The Ohio State University
CERTIFICATIONS & TRAININGS
ACTFL LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY
2009–present ACTFL OPI Tester of Chinese with Full Certification
2017–present ACTFL AAPPL Chinese Mandarin Rater Certification
2017 ACTFL AAPPL training
2016 Writing Guidelines Familiarization workshop for ACTFL OPI Tester Trainers
2016 The Role of Grammar workshop for ACTFL OPI Tester Trainers
2012 Oral Proficiency Interview on Computers (OPIc) training
2011 ACTFL Written Proficiency Test (WPT) Familiarization Workshop
2007 ACTFL OPI training
CULTURAL AND INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE
Mar 2017 Winter Institute for Intercultural Communication (WIIC) three-day workshop entitled Managing Intercultural Development Styles in Classrooms offered by Dr. Donna Stringer, Springfield, MA.
Mar 2016 Winter Institute for Intercultural Communication (WIIC) one-day workshop entitled The Missing Piece: Quality Assessment in Intercultural Learning offered by Dr. Darla Deardorff, Charlotte, NC.
Jan 2016 CIEE Faculty Development Seminar entitled The Intersection of Language Learning and Intercultural Learning at Buenos Aires, Argentine.
AFFILIATIONS
2007–present ACTFL, member
2002–present CLTA, lifelong member
1999–present International Society for Chinese Language Teaching, lifelong member