EdUHK and the Association Recherche et Enseignement du Chinois Jointly Hold the ‘International Conference on the History of Chinese Linguistics and Chinese Education’
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) and Université Paris Cité jointly initiated and organised the ‘International Conference on Chinese Linguistics and History of Chinese Language Education’. The conference was also one of the events celebrating the 30th anniversary of EdUHK.
The event was held on 13 and 14 June at Université Paris Cité in France, and was co-hosted by the Association Recherche et Enseignement du Chinois (AREC), the Department of Chinese Language Studies at EdUHK, the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilisations at Université Paris Cité, and the Confucius Institute at Université Paris Cité, based on the Hong Kong-France Joint Project (ANR-RGC: CLDA) ‘Language Contact and Areal Diffusion of Sinitic Languages in the GBA’. The conference was attended by more than 70 scholars from Hong Kong, mainland China and around the globe, to discuss the latest research findings in Chinese linguistics, Chinese language education and Chinese culture.
The Hong Kong Principal Investigator (PI) of the CLDA project, Dr Wang Cong from the Department of Chinese Language Studies at EdUHK, and the France PI, Dr Qi Chong from Université Paris Cité and the Centre de Recherches Linguistiques sur l’Asie Orientale, served as the organising committee chairs for the conference. They presented the CLDA project’s significant interim findings, which captured widespread attention and stimulated heated discussion among the international scholars.
Professor John Lee Chi-Kin, Director of Academy for Applied Policy Studies and Education Futures at EdUHK, Chair Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at EdUHK, and UNESCO Chair in Regional Education Development and Lifelong Learning, delivered a keynote speech entitled ‘An initial exploration of the concepts and educational implications related to Zhongyong’. He analysed different translations of Zhongyong in the English-speaking world since the 19th century.
Professor John Erni, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Chair Professor of the Department of Literature and Cultural Studies at EdUHK, delivered a keynote speech entitled ‘Popular fantastic novels and middle-class enhancement in China’. Professor Erni focused on the phenomenon of the transnational flow of Western popular fiction into China and explored how these literary works reshaped the Chinese middle class. The speech prompted keen interest and in-depth exchanges of ideas regarding the influence of Western literature and culture on Chinese society among all scholars and students at the conference.
Several faculty members from the Department of Chinese Language Studies at EdUHK delivered invited speeches and academic paper reports. Doctoral student Dai Yanmei, who was awarded the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS) in 2024, and Zhu Sida, a 2022 EdD graduate currently serving as a lecturer at a renowned mainland Chinese university, presented their latest research findings.
