Professor and doctoral advisor Tang Lixing from the Chinese Teacher Development Center at New York University stated that as China's global influence continues to grow, there has been a widespread surge in interest in the Chinese language in the United States. Every year, Chinese language teachers graduating from New York University are highly sought after by schools across the country. From 2000 to 2008, there were only 17 graduates from the Chinese language teaching program at New York University, all of whom were hired by schools in the New York area; from 2008 to 2013, the number of graduates increased to 87, with schools in California, Washington, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and other regions competing for their services.
The conference organizer, Robin Harvey, a graduate advisor in the Chinese language teaching program at New York University, shared her experience as a Caucasian American who learned Chinese using very traditional methods. She could read but not speak, and when she first arrived at Taipei Airport, she couldn't even say the simple phrase "cross the street," having to write it down to ask for help. This experience taught her to integrate Chinese into her daily life. She particularly understands the challenges non-Chinese individuals face when learning Chinese, which is why she fell in love with teaching the language, starting with private tutoring, then opening a Chinese language school, and eventually becoming a graduate advisor at New York University.
This year's conference theme is "Teaching Chinese in a Global Context: Developing Communicative Competence for a New Era." Harvey noted that she sees a trend where both countries need to cultivate multilingual talent. Many Chinese individuals coming to the United States have strong educational backgrounds and passion, making them well-suited to build cultural bridges between the two countries. American-born Chinese also recognize the importance of the Chinese language, with many professionals already in the workforce joining the ranks of Chinese language learners.
Chinese language teaching is closely tied to practice. Zheng Yujing, a Korean girl who is passionate about the Chinese language, is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Chinese language teaching at New York University, but she is already an experienced Chinese language teacher. She mentioned that as a non-Chinese person, learning Chinese is not easy, but she finds it particularly easy to communicate with her students when teaching them Chinese because she understands the difficulties they face and can provide targeted assistance.
Teacher Wang Zhao, who teaches Chinese at Little Red School House in New York, has mostly American students. She enjoys guiding her students through culture, such as using one of the most complex Chinese characters, "Biang," in her lessons, teaching them the mnemonic phrases while introducing the historical imperial examination system in China. She also organizes field trips to Flushing, where students can personally visit Biang restaurant to enjoy noodles; she incorporates traditional festivals, such as Teacher's Day, to introduce Confucian teachings; and encourages American students to freely discuss current events in China and the United States, such as smog and the Three Gorges Project, to engage their interest in Chinese culture.
Teacher Yang Zhe, who teaches Chinese at a high school in Ohio, stated that she excels at using sensory experiences such as seeing, hearing, and tasting to help students internalize Chinese culture subconsciously. For example, she has students create posters about Chinese food, linking the foods they taste with their imaginations, and explaining Chinese customs and culture. For instance, some American students describe dumplings as resembling Chinese ingots, which are considered very auspicious.