Fruitful exchange with Chinese language teaching expert

Dr Wong (front row, third from left) and Dr Chen (front row, fifth from left) with the delegates and UTAR staff

A group of delegates from the Third ASEAN Chinese Language Teaching International Conference (第三届东盟汉语教学国际学术研讨会) visited Kampar Campus on 14 August 2019.

The group was comprised of academics from various higher learning institutions of China and was led by Peking University School of Chinese as a Second Language Deputy Dean Assoc Prof Dr Wang Tian-miao. They visited UTAR to explore collaborative opportunities between UTAR and their respective institutions. They were accompanied by Malaysia Mandarin Culture and Communication Association (MMCCA) President-cum-MCA Youth Deputy Chairman Tan Chee Hiong.

Welcoming the visitors were UTAR Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS) Academic Development and Undergraduate Programmes Deputy Dean Assoc Prof Dr Wong Wun Bin, Student Development and Industrial Training Deputy Dean Dr Ling Liong Ngo, Postgraduate Programmes Head Dr Wong Lih Lih and Division of Community and International Networking (DCinterNet) Deputy Director Dr Chen I-chi.

Dr Wong looking forward to possible collaboration in the areas of Chinese language between ICS and the delegates’ respective institutions

The meeting commenced with the presentation of UTAR’s corporate video and Dr Wong’s welcome address in which he introduced the Chinese education system in Malaysia, UTAR, ICS, Centre for Chinese Studies (CChS) and research. “UTAR is a young university which is only 17 years old. With the concerted efforts of all the staff and students, UTAR has achieved rapid development and outstanding performance, and has become a well-known private university in Malaysia,” Dr Wong said.

He added, “Language is not only regarded as a mode of communication but rather, it helps with the spread of culture and further become an important language in the world. With the rise of China, the Chinese language is becoming a mainstream global language and teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language is becoming more and more important around the world.” He is looking forward to possible collaboration especially in Chinese language between ICS and the delegates’ respective institutions.

Dr Chen introducing UTAR’s international collaborations

Dr Chen gave a brief introduction about the role of DCinterNet and the specialism of UTAR’s international collaborations, “As a university that focuses on international development, UTAR has built a strong relationship with the international partners, including a number of well-known universities and companies from China in various aspects, such as student and academic exchange, joint research, training and knowledge exchange.”

She further explained some of the significant collaborations between UTAR and international partners from China, such as the China-Malaysia Centre for Traditional Chinese Medicine, a collaboration between UTAR and Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine; UTAR Institute of Management and Leadership Development (IMLD) provided training programme for academics from China; China’s well-known company Huawei organised Campus Recruitment for UTAR students; and UTAR lecturers become the first batch of Alibaba.com Global E-commerce Talent (GET) certified trainers in Malaysia.

Tan explaining the vision of ASEAN Chinese Language Teaching International Conference

Tan introduced MMCCA and explained the vision of the ASEAN Chinese Language Teaching International Conference. He said, “The Chinese language has economic, learning and cultural values, hence the proportion of Chinese language will be higher and higher in the future. However, teaching Chinese as a foreign language still has not received much attention in our countries, so MMCCA aimed to bring everyone, especially the experts of Chinese language teaching together to attend the First ASEAN Chinese Language Teaching International Conference in the year 2017.”

He revealed, “Apart from the academic meeting, we have also arranged a field trip for the participants to visit some educational institutions from primary to tertiary level to provide them a deeper understanding of the Malaysian education system. Meanwhile, we are also glad to arrange this meaningful meeting for the foreign Chinese language experts to exchange with UTAR academic. ” 

Dr Wang giving a brief introduction to Peking University’s international collaborations

Dr Wang endorsed, “We have benefited a lot from this conference which did not only arrange for us this academic meeting but also field trips to several educational institutions in Malaysia for us to know more about the Malaysian education system especially in the field of Chinese language learning and teaching.”

She also thanked UTAR for the warm welcome and arrangement, “This is a very rare opportunity for us to visit UTAR, a well-known private university in Malaysia, and to expand our network and gather information about potential international collaborations.” She was impressed with the running management and research conducted by UTAR especially on interdisciplinary research, ‘Belt and Road’ and agricultural research. Furthermore, she also gave a brief introduction to Peking University’s international collaborations.

Constructive discussions are going on

The meeting was led to a brief introductory session by the delegates where they introduced their respective universities which included Yunnan Normal University, Ocean University of China, Minzu University of China, Shandong University, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Singapore Centre for Chinese Language, and Indonesia Universitas Pelita Harapan.

The discussion exchanged ideas on the development of Chinese language teaching and learning, and the possible collaboration areas such as faculty, staff and students’ exchanges, industrial training, teaching training, academic activities and joint research.

The meeting ended with a souvenir presentation and a group photography session. 

Souvenirs exchange between Tan (left) and Dr Wong

Dr Wong (left) presenting a token of appreciation to Dr Wang

The delegates and UTAR staff taking a group photo after the plentiful exchange 

The Third ASEAN Chinese Education Academic Conference, held from 9 to 14 Aug 2019, was organised by MMCCA. It aimed to promote the academic exchange of Chinese Language teaching along the ‘Belt and Road’ countries, especially in ASEAN countries, and also the development of Chinese language teaching in Malaysia and other countries along the ‘Belt and Road’.