Language instructors’ pedagogical conceptualization of culture influences how language learners construct intercultural knowledge, develop intercultural attitudes, adjust intercultural behaviors, and perform intercultural roles.” As a language instructor myself, I realize how essential it is for us to reflect on and have a clear understanding of our own pedagogical philosophy. These realizations made me want to see how today’s English instructors in Chinese higher educational institutions conceptualize and approach culture and what efforts they are making to prepare their students for complicated and unpredictable intercultural encounters. A transpired generalized inclination tends to jeopardize, rather than facilitate, intercultural communication. A generalized sum-up of any culture can be incomplete, unfair, destructive, and condescending. Efforts need to be made to help learners to transcend it. Although a generalized cultural sketch is usually the starting point of one’s journey towards intercultural understanding, it should by no means be the end point. I found truth in what Sewell (1999) concluded: Intercultural communication is ‘shot through with willful actions, power relations, struggle, contradiction and change.’ By then, I had started to question the common practice of teaching the generalized culture as bounded by geographic borders. These experiences caused me to rediscover the complexity of intercultural communication and cultural teaching. I was able to be truly involved in communications with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. She says, “Five years of living and studying in Canada was a transformative journey for me. Liu’s interest in her research topic, “Exploring Chinese Instructors’ Perceptions and Practices of Integrating Culture into Tertiary-Level English Education: A Case Study,” was sparked by her own intercultural experiences. Addressing the intercultural dynamic is a challenging pedagogical endeavor here when students do not enjoy exposure to real-life culture of English-speaking countries, requiring creativity on the instructors’ part.” Textbooks and the Internet are the primary sites where English learners encounter the target language culture. Because the city is not an international metropolis, Liu says, “Learning about a different language and culture here, like in many other inland cities in China, means that one has limited access to native English speakers and real-life intercultural encounters. After graduating, Liu became an English instructor in the university where she had studied. Lui was born and raised in the capital city of a northeastern province in China where she did her undergraduate degree in a Top 20 university, majoring in British and American Literature. The emotional bond that I’ve developed with the faculty and the respectable professors brought me back here to do my PhD degree.” These classes brought me into the academic field and planted a seed in my heart. Douglas Brown’s sociology class and some others. Andrea Sterzuk’s classes related to second language acquisition, and Dr. Liu says, “I observed quite a few classes during that year, including Dr. The experience influenced her decision to return to the University of Regina for her PhD program in Education. Yueming Liu first visited the University of Regina, Faculty of Education as a visiting scholar between 20, sponsored by the China Scholarship Council. Rahat Zaidi (University of Calgary), and Dr. Liu successfully defended her dissertation, “Exploring Chinese Instructors’ Perceptions and Practices of Integrating Culture into Tertiary-Level English Education: A Case Study,” on July 15, 2022. This $2,000 award is granted to a student in a graduate program in the Faculty of Education who has exemplified academic excellence and research ability, demonstrated leadership ability and/or university/community involvement, and whose thesis/dissertation was deemed meritorious by the Examining Committee.ĭr. The Faculty of Education Associate Dean’s Graduate Student Thesis Award was established in 2021 to recognize outstanding academic performance of thesis-based graduate students (Masters and PhD) in Education. Yueming Liu, one of two recipients of the fall 2022 Faculty of Education Associate Dean’s Graduate Student Thesis Award. Yueming Liu, awarded fall 2022 Associate Dean’s Graduate Student Thesis AwardĬongratulations to Dr.
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