By Nick Yates, ISB Communications
The International School of Beijing (ISB) runs one of the region’s leading Chinese programs in an international school, and on Saturday it helped support the wider learning community by hosting hundreds of Chinese language educators from more than 10 countries for an online conference.
During the virtual event, schools showcased their language programs, students shared learning journeys, and delegates explored best practice and new ideas in Chinese language, literacy and cultural proficiency development.
ISB has a history of promoting quality language instruction and culture education in international schools, having inaugurated the Chinese Articulation Workshop in 2001. The workshop attracted thousands of participants cumulatively in the Asia-Pacific region as it traveled to different schools over the past two decades.
ISB’s Chinese Language and Culture Center was established in 2019 to coordinate events like these and further strengthen the school’s teaching of Chinese in terms of both language and cultural connections. ISB this year also launched an online platform for language teachers and program leaders to share experiences.
Conference delegates on Saturday were treated to a keynote address by Dr. Chin-Yin Tseng, who is a celebrated China academic in addition to being an alumna of ISB. Dr. Tseng said her years at ISB up to graduation in 2002 were responsible for fostering her cultural identity and understanding of the world.
“This mindset continued to challenge me to see the world through the eyes of ‘others,’ and in doing so, I have come to truly appreciate how multilingualism plays an essential role in the development of my own global perspectives. My posts in academia and in the corporate world all rely on my ability to switch between multiple languages, not only as a tool to facilitate mutual understanding but because language is the base element to cultural proficiency.”