SIS Teachers Awarded in the 2020 SYSU Teaching Contest of Young Teaching Staff

           In October, 2020, the Office of Education Administration of Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) launched the 2020 SYSU Teaching Contest of Young Teaching Staff. The objective of this contest was to implement the fundamental task of moral education and the policy of students cultivation aiming at “nurturing teachers who have both ability and moral integrity and are able to cultivate charisma and eager to serve their country”. The contest was also intended to further promote the reform in the teaching ability of young teaching staff and in the course construction. After fierce competition, Liao Yue, from the Department of Spanish of the School of International Studies (SIS) received a second prize, and Chen Meiling, from the same department, and Zhang Wenyi, from the Department of Korean of SIS both received a third prize. Out of the 8 winners of the liberal arts group, 3 were from SIS.

           This Teaching Contest of Young Teaching Staff followed the concept of “Teaching a class well” and was broken down into three stages: preliminaries, semi-finals and finals. A total of 102 teachers from 52 schools were recommended to directly attend the semi-finals. According to their teaching scheme designs, the review was conducted in three groups: liberal arts, science and engineering, and medicine. The top 8 teachers of each group, according to their results, were qualified to attend the finals, so a total of 24 teachers stood out from the review. The finals consisted of three parts: teaching scheme designs, class teaching and teaching reflection.

Below are the profiles of three winners.

Liao Yue

          Liao Yue is the Chair of the Department of Spanish and Director of Specialized Course Teaching and Research Section of the Department of Spanish. She has ever been awarded as “Outstanding Head Teacher of SYSU”. Her classes have received titles including “Outstanding May 4th Red Flag Youth League Branch of SYSU” and “SYSU Fine Studying Atmosphere Class”.

          Regarding the podium as her beloved place, she lectures, shares experience and spreads positive energy in her classes. She also helps her students develop learning as a hobby and a habit. Besides, she holds the teaching concepts of “respecting individuality, teaching according to students’ aptitude while being self-examining, humble and strict”.

         The courses she offers include Basic Spanish, Public Spanish, Advanced Readings of Spanish Newspapers and Magazines, and Introduction to Chinese Culture.

A Photo of Teacher Liao Yue

Zhang Wenyi

             Zhang Wenyi, a graduate from Ewha Womans University, officially joined the Department of Korean, SIS, SYSU in 2013. She lectures with the original intention to “pass on love and educate with love” and makes efforts to “keep students from making the same mistakes as she did when learning Korean”. She considers teaching as her biggest interest and pleasure.

            The main courses she offers are Korean Intensive Reading III and IV.

Teacher Zhang Wenyi at the Korean Cultural Festival

Chen Meiling

         Chen Meiling is the Director of Spanish Basic Course Teaching and Research Section and the Head of International Projects. The courses she offers include Basic Spanish I~IV, Advanced Spanish I~II, Spanish Grammar & Vocabulary; Foreign Language (Spanish), Latin American Society & Culture (English). In the 2017 Spring semester, the scores of Foreign Language (Spanish) I and Basic Spanish I that she offered tied for first place among 2709 courses during the course evaluation of SYSU; in the 2018 Spring semester, Basic Spanish II ranked first among 3305 courses; in the 2019 Autumn semester, Basic Spanish I and III both ranked first among 4024 courses of SYSU.

Teacher Chen Meiling Delivering a Speech during “Know Latin America: Week of Latin American Cultural Exchange 2020”