The Centre for Research on Chinese Language and Education (CRCLE) and the Department of Chinese Language Studies (CHL) of The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) recently organised the “Joint Lecture Series of Linguistics”, with the Centre for Chinese Linguistics of Peking University (PKU), and the “Joint Lecture Series of International Chinese Language Education”, with the Research Institute of International Chinese Language Education of Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU). The two lecture series are part of CRCLE activities for developing strategic partnerships with leading academic institutions, with the aim of promoting the academic exchanges and collaboration in the areas of Chinese linguistics and teaching Chinese as an international language between Hong Kong and the mainland. 

The first lecture in the “Joint Lectures Series of Linguistics” was delivered by Professor Zhu Qingzhi, Director of CRCLE, on the topic “A Historical Change in the Description of Addressees in Chinese Dialogue Sentences and the Reasons Behind It”. Professor Zhu discussed the historical change and reasons for the change in the syntactic position of appellation terms referring to the addressee or the addresser when describing or recording dialogue in classical Chinese literature. The second lecture was given by Professor Wang Feng, from the Centre for Chinese Linguistics of PKU, and Dr Zhang Yuan, from the School of Mathematical Sciences of PKU. In a talk on the topic “Sound Correspondence and Possibility Calculation”, they proposed a probability algorithm to eliminate accidental similarities in sound correspondence, based on the actual distribution of Chinese tones and the comparison of two Yao dialect tones.

Professor Cui Xiliang, from the Research Institute of International Chinese Language Education of BLCU, presented the first lecture in the “Joint Lecture Series of International Chinese Language Education”. Titled “The Mission and Academic Awareness of Chinese Language Teachers”, the session covered various topics about the mission, challenges, and professional development of Chinese language teachers in the context of international Chinese education. The second lecture, titled “IB Concepts and International Chinese Language Education”, was delivered by Professor Si Chung-mou, Head of CHL. Introducing IB concepts and their embodiment and application in international Chinese education, Professor Si discussed the interaction between international Chinese education and multilingual and cross-cultural development.

The four joint lectures attracted more than 1,000 participants. CRCLE, CHL and the academic partner institutions will continue to co-organise more academic lectures by renowned scholars. For details, please visit the websites of CRCLE and CHL.