Dr. Ivy Haoyin Hsieh, the Chair and an Associate Professor in the Department of English Language and Culture from Tamkang University, Lanyang Campus, Taiwan, was invited to have a visit at the Center for Language Education from December 12th to 13th. Born and raised in Taiwan, Dr. Hsieh studied in the United States, received her Ph. D. from the University of Florida (UF) and taught at the Sam Houston State University before going back to Taiwan to live with her parents and work with local teachers and students. During her visit at CLE, Dr. Hsieh gave two talks about English teaching and learning respectively to CLE teachers and SUSTech students.
On December 12th noon, Dr. Hsieh gave CLE teachers a talk titled “Literacy Activities for EFL College English Classes.” Dr. Hsieh shared her first-hand experience on using literacy activities such as “literature circle” in reading and “project-based process writing” in teaching English as a foreign language. She suggested that these activities should be implemented in college English classes as well to motivate students’ learning and to connect with their personal life experiences. CLE teachers found this talk quite motivational and inspiring, which tremendously encouraged them to explore more engaging learning opportunities for students.
Dr. Hsieh also held a talk titled “Go Gators! From College football to American Pop Culture” for SUSTech students on December 13th noon. Dr.Hsieh shared her own observations and experiences living in a college town with football as part of daily life during her PhD study at UF in the U.S. She explored the questions why Americans love football so much and how football represents and impacts their pop culture. In addition to introducing surface culture by demonstrating some UF gators souvenirs, Dr. Hsieh also elaborated on the elements of deep culture relating to college football, some of which included identity, gender, and race. Following her talk, Dr. Hsieh invited CLE’s instructors and UF alumni Rongrong Dong, Qing Liu, and Zhuo Li to talk about their memory of UF football. CLE’s instructor Matthew Jellick also joined the discussion, sharing his understanding about the topic from the perspective of an American. The students asked questions and enjoyed the talk, expressing it was an exciting and eye-opening experience to learn about American culture.
Dr. Hsieh’s visit was a fantastic opportunity for CLE teachers to learn and rethink how they can ignite students’ passion for reading and writing. Her talk about cross-cultural communication was an extraordinary add-on to a series of workshops on academic reading and writing by CLE this semester.
Written by: Zhuo Li
Photos by: Zhaoting Li, Zhuo Li
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