The sixth "Joint Seminar by Famous Chinese Education Scholars", co-organised by the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language (SCCL) and The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK), was held at the SCCL Lecture Hall on the morning of 7 May 2025. The seminar focused on "Chinese Language Learning in Multilingual and Multicultural Contexts". The keynote speakers were Professor Leung Pui Wan and Assistant Professor Chan Chu Kwong from Centre for Research on Chinese Language and Education, EdUHK, as well as Dr Lin Jinzhan, Head of the Research Department of SCCL.

        The lecture was hosted by Dr Han Yiting, SCCL lecturer. Dr Foo Suan Fong, Executive Director of SCCL, delivered the opening speech.

        The presentation by Professor Leung Pui Wan and Dr Chan Chu Kwong was titled "Effective Use of Digital Media in Chinese Language Learning: A Case Study of Classical Chinese Texts in Hong Kong's Chinese Language Curriculum". Professor Leung introduced a multimedia curriculum designed for Hong Kong primary students titled "Watch Animation, Read Classics, Understand Classical Chinese". In addition to 48 episodes of animated teaching materials, the program includes differentiated instructional content tailored to students' varying needs, teacher training components, and multilingual parent-child picture books. Dr Chan followed with a demonstration of how the animations integrate Hong Kong local cultural and geographical knowledge to boost student engagement and deepen their understanding of classical Chinese texts. He also introduced the multimodal AI-powered app "Joyful Journey through Classical Poetry", and shared feedback from Hong Kong primary and secondary students who had used the app.

        Dr Lin Jinzhan's presentation was titled "A Linguistic Behaviour Analysis of Student Group Discussions in Secondary School Chinese Classrooms in Singapore". Dr Lin presented findings from a study that analysed why and how Singaporean secondary students choose to use Mandarin or English in Chinese language classes. By examining students' language behaviour during group discussions, such as turn-taking in Mandarin and English, code-switching patterns, language participation levels, and Mandarin output, this study identified the contexts and features of English usage in the Chinese classroom. Through interviews with students who predominantly use either Mandarin or English in group discussions in class, the study also explored the reasons behind their language choices.

        Participants in the joint seminar included colleagues from EdUHK, SCCL, Singapore's Ministry of Education, as well as the exchange group from the Master of Education in Teaching Chinese as an International Language of the School of Education and Languages, Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU).

Dr Han Yiting hosting the lecture

Dr Foo Suan Fong and Professor Leung Pui Wan exchanged commemorative gifts

Professor Leung's presentation

Assistant Professor Chan Chu Kwong delivering his talk

Dr Lin Jinzhan's presentation