In September 2026, faculty members and research students from the Department of Language Science and Technology (LST) were invited to attend the 8th International Conference on Teaching and Learning of Chinese as a Second Language (TLCSL), organised by the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language (SCCL). During the Conference, one team member was formally appointed as an academic advisory, and the team delivered key academic presentations and engaged in in-depth scholarly discussions across a range of frontier topics.
Conferment of Academic Advisor Appointment
On 8 September, at the conference’s opening ceremony, Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for Education of Singapore, accompanied by Dr Foo Suan Fong, Executive Director of SCCL, presented the official Letter of Appointment to Prof. Zhu Xinhua, appointing him as Academic Advisor to the SCCL.
In the official tribute, the master of ceremonies praised Prof. Zhu for his long-standing commitment to Chinese language curriculum and assessment research, highlighting him as an internationally renowned scholar in Chinese language education and a deeply cherished friend who has worked closely with Singapore’s Chinese education community for decades. During his academic career at the National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University, and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Prof. Zhu has repeatedly invited to serve as an expert consultant on Chinese language curriculum and assessment for the Ministry of Education (MOE), Singapore. He has also served on numerous occasions as an overseas reviewer for SCCL’s research initiatives and currently serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Chinese Language Education.
Following the opening ceremony, the team exchanged views with counterparts from the Ministry of Education of Singapore, the National Institute of Education at Nanyang Technological University, SCCL, as well as primary and secondary schools. During the session, Minister Lee, Executive Director Dr Foo, and Prof. Zhu shared insights and perspectives on the latest developments in Chinese language education research and pedagogical practices across Singapore and Hong Kong. Their discussions focused on frontier topics including Artificial Intelligence (AI)-empowered Chinese curricula, innovative instructional models, and student performance in large-scale international assessments.
Delivery of Keynote Address
Prof. Zhu delivered a keynote address entitled "Characteristics of GenAI Writing Feedback and Teacher Professional Learning: An Empirical Study of Human–AI Collaborative Mechanisms". He commenced by analysing the ecological transformation and practical challenges facing writing feedback in the era of Artificial Intelligence. Drawing upon his research team’s 15 publications in AI-empowered language education, he highlighted three representative studies, detailing their research frameworks, assessment instruments, and empirical findings concerning the psychological and behavioral dynamics of human–AI interaction among teachers and students. Finally, from the perspective of knowledge transfer, he focused on strategies for enhancing the efficacy of writing feedback in AI-supported environments, offering forward-looking yet actionable recommendations on informing language policy refinement, reshaping curricula, and advancing pedagogical innovation.
Conduct of Invited Symposia
On 9 September, PolyU scholars Prof. Leung Wai Mun, Prof. Ke Sihui, and PhD candidates Xiao Yu and Xu Xintong convened an PolyU- invited symposium titled "Teaching and Learning Chinese as a Second Language in Multilingual Contexts of Hong Kong: From Policy Planning to Cognitive and Pedagogical Practices." Bridging macro-level policy and micro-level cognition, the four presentations examined the cultural tensions in "hybrid-type textbooks," the cognitive mechanisms of "self-teaching" in Chinese reading, translanguaging in preschool classrooms, and the effectiveness of morphological awareness instruction in primary schools. Spanning diverse educational stages and research paradigms, this session aimed to offer innovative theoretical insights and evidence-based pedagogical strategies to advance CSL education in multilingual ecologies.
On the same day, Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Liu Yaping presented her study, "Meaning Construction in Multimodal Reading: Comprehensibility and Cognitive Challenges of Distinct Text-Image Relations" at another invited symposium titled "Exploring Multimodal Reading in Diverse Educational Contexts: Hong Kong and Singapore Perspectives." Focusing on how diverse text-image relations affect readers' meaning-making processes, her findings offer valuable insights for multimodal reading pedagogy, reading material development, and text-image design in instructional resources.
In addition, in his capacity as Co-Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Zhu attended the editorial board meeting of the Journal of Chinese Language Education (JCLE) to advance the development of an international scholarly dissemination platform for Chinese language education. Furthermore, Prof. Lin-hong Cheung and Prof. Zhu paid a dedicated visit to Prof. Chew Cheng Hai, an internationally renowned linguist and a founding scholar of Singapore’s Chinese language education community. During the visit, Prof. Zhu conveyed his warmest regards and engaged in insightful dialogue on the heritage, continuity, and future development of Chinese linguistics and overseas Chinese language education.
This academic visit to Singapore successfully showcased the Faculty’s and Department’s research findings and expertise in the field of Chinese language education and assessment, while further expanding their scholarly exchange networks across the Asia-Pacific region. Moving forward, the team will continue to deepen inter-institutional collaborations and actively pursue research topics of both theoretical significance and practical value.
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