List of Accomplishments by Graduate Students in the Department of East Asian Studies:

Transcription

1 List of Accomplishments by Graduate Students in the Department of East Asian Studies: 1. Congratulations to Hsuan-YING Liu on accepting a Teaching Position at University of North Dakota 8/16/2016 Hsuan-ying Liu, our most recent PhD awardee, has accepted a Chinese teaching position at the University of North Dakota. She will be responsible for the entire Chinese program at UND. Hsuan-ying completed her dissertation entitled Coming of Age Learning Mandarin: Chinese L2 learners investment during their transition from high school to universityin the early summer of Her dissertation was directed by Professor Wenhao Diao. 2. Chinese Linguistics Students Going to North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics 3/10/2016 Six graduate students who have been working with Professor Feng-hsi Liu have had their abstracts accepted at the 28 th North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics (NACCL-28), which is a major international conference on Chinese Linguistics. They are (back row, left to right) Min Chen, Professor Liu, Xiaowen Nie, Yi Wang, (front row) Yu Tian, Xin He and Jingjiing Xu. They will travel to Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah in May to make presentations at the conference. Congratulations to all! This will be a great opportunity to showcase some of the research done in our department to our colleagues in other institutions. 3. Hsuan-Ying Liu Shortlisted for the Taochung Yao Memorial Award 2/1/ 2016 Hsuan-Ying Liu s conference proposal titled "Ready for the coming era of teaching and learning Chinese? A case study of K-12 schools has been shortlisted for the Taochung Yao Memorial Award (a.k.a. the Yao Award) this year. Hsuan-Ying is a doctoral candidate focusing on Chinese applied linguistics in the Department of East Asian Studies. The proposal is based on

2 her dissertation research that examines the facilitating factors as well as barriers for learners of Chinese to continue their language learning as they transition from high school to college. She will present the study and compete with the three other candidates at the upcoming International Symposium on Chinese Language Teaching and Learning in April. The Yao Award was established in 2015 to remember the legacy of Dr. Taochung (Ted) Yao and support graduate students in the U.S. to present research related to the teaching and learning of Chinese. Dr. Yao was probably best known for authoringintegrated Chinese, one of the most popular Chinese language textbooks in North America. It is also worth mentioning that Dr. Yao was also an EAS alumni. He graduated with a Ph.D. in Chinese Language and Culture in We are proud for the legacy of Dr. Yao and for the achievement of our current graduate students. Congratulations to Hsuan-Ying, and please join us in wishing her best luck at the conference! 4. MA Student Christianne Ono Participates in 2015 Miyako Language Documentation Training Workshop in Japan 1/21/2016 This past December, M.A. student Christianne Ono travelled to Ikema Island in southern Okinawa to participate in Dr. Tsuyoshi Ono (University of Alberta) and Dr. Toshihide Nakayama s (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies) Second Miyako Language Documentation Training Workshop. During the intensive week-long workshop, Christianne and the other participants learned about and utilized various techniques to practice documenting Ikema, an endangered Ryukyuan language. In addition to linguistic research experience, they also spent time connecting with and giving back to the community by participating in local events and assisting with the after school care program. 5. Liming Wang Recent Graduation in East Asian Studies Ph. D. Program 10/27/2015

3 As Liming reflects on the course her life has taken, she believes that knowing oneself and what one want is fundamental. The courage and ability to make a change in times of adversity is crucial. Once a decision is made, even as difficult one as taking a PhD, perseverance and determination will unfailingly lead one to success. Liming recently accepted a position at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona, to teach Chinese language and culture courses in the Department of Humanities and Communication, College of Arts and Sciences. Best wishes to her in her continued adventures! 6. EAS Graduate Student to Present at the Meeting of the American Anthropological Association 9/24/2014 Liming Wang, a PhD Candidate in Chinese Anthropology, will present her dissertation research at the American Anthropological Association (AAA) meeting on December 3, 2014 in Washington DC. Her talk focuses on the government s involvement in the process of farmers individualization in rural sectors of contemporary China. She investigated how the Chinese government provides various support, directly and/or through new institutions and associations, to assist the individualization of farmers. This research provides valuable insight in understanding the risks in rural China and in the changing role of the Chinese party-state in farmers everyday lives. 7. Graduate Student Paper Presentation 2/21/2014 Xiaowen Nie, doctoral student in Chinese linguistics, will present with Dr. Wenhao Diao a paper entitled "Mainland Chinese's Perception of Taiwan Mandarin" at the 22nd annual Symposium on Language and Society(SALSA) to be held on April 11-12, 2014 at the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA. 8. Chinese Language Students Win Top Prizes in Regional Speech Contest 4/26/2014

4 The "Chinese Bridge" speech contest, organized by the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles, and hosted by the Confucius Institute at the UA, took place on April 26th on the UA campus. Contestants in this year s competition were college and university students currently enrolled in a Mandarin Chinese program during the academic year in Arizona, New Mexico, southern California, Hawaii, or selected Pacific islands. Students competed at one of two levels: Intermediate (for students who have studied Chinese for less than three years), and Advanced (for students who have studied Chinese for three years or more, or who have resided in China for more than 6 months). All contestants had to compose and deliver a short speech and answer judges questions pertaining to Chinese language, history, geography and culture. Brandon James Barnett, a student in CHN 202 majoring in East Asian Studies and Linguistics at the UA, won first place at the Intermediate level. Sharla Ruiz, a student in CHN 517 at the UA, won the first place at the advanced level. Sharla is likely to be invited to further rounds of competition nationally and internationally. Sharla s performance was so impressive that after the ceremony she was surrounded by Chinese newspaper reporters. One judge asked what she knows about Chinese wedding customs. She said Chinese people sometimes invite government officials to their weddings, but this would never happen in the States. That made everyone laugh. Sharla will enter the M.A. program in East Asian Studies this fall and will focus on Chinese linguistics. 9. Graduate Student Paper Presentation 2/21/ 2014 Xiaowen Nie, doctoral student in Chinese linguistics, will present with Dr. Wenhao Diao a paper entitled "Mainland Chinese's Perception of Taiwan Mandarin" at the 22nd annual Symposium on Language and Society (SALSA) to be held on April 11-12, 2014 at the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.

5