My students insisted that I should
introduce myself, highlight my academic
background, and describe my teaching
experiences at UVA. They said, You are
the most important person of this web
page." I said, No, you, you are, the
whole class is. The whole class should
stand out, not me.  However, they
finally persuaded me to generate the
following paragraphs.

As I look back...

As I look back at the past several years, there were three turning points that led me to become engaged in Chinese language instruction at UVA. The first two prepared and shaped my professional development, and the last granted me an opportunity to grow and enrich it.

The first turning point was my six-year experience as a Chinese language teaching assistant at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where I received my doctoral degree in Second Language Acquisition and Teachers Education in October 1999. Before my graduation, I was lucky enough to serve as Acting Director of UIUC's Chinese Instruction Program from August 1997 to May 1998. I am grateful to Jerry Packard, the formal and current supervisor of UIUC's Chinese Instruction Program, who granted me ample chances to incorporate theory into practice, and to cultivate communication and leadership skills while supervising the Chinese Program.

Another significant turning point should be credited to an award granted by the Chinese Language Teachers Association at the 1998 annual CLTA meeting. Fortunately, I was selected as the first Ron Walton Young Scholar to be granted a Ron Walton Travel Grant. This inspired me to launch into the profession of Chinese language education in the US. For this, special thanks should be given to the 1998 Ron Walton Committee Members, who offered sparkling comments and suggestions to my paper presented at the conference and made possible an immediate publication in the Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association in February 1999.

Last but not least, being able to become a faculty member in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of Virginia set another cornerstone in my career. I should express my sincere appreciation to Gilbert Roy, Ann Kinney, and others, who have been so helpful in providing valuable assistance to me whenever needed. Another dear colleague of mine, Helen Shen, with whom I work very closely and exchange inspirational conversations frequently, has facilitated my teaching in all aspects. To her, I also owe my deepest gratitude.

Teaching at UVA...

Teaching at UVA is one of the greatest challenges that I have ever experienced in my life thus far. Being a UVA faculty member made me feel that I was teaching a group of elite students with the academic ability and willingness to receive rigid academic disciplines. To meet their needs, I then decided that this course should be set up in the way that it drove them to explore their potentials, challenge their limits, and reach the utmost proficiency level within their capacity.

As a result, some students revealed to me that Elementary Chinese was the heaviest course they took in the semester. To what extent this statement represents the whole class's view, I do not know. Surely, this course is not easy, and students cannot survive without daily preparation, participation, and concentration.

From my daily observation, the students learned Chinese with perseverance, strong determination, and with what contributed most to their fruitful learning results, heart. The textbook Integrated Chinese required them to learn each lesson at a fast pace with intensive practice on a daily basis. The Monday-Friday fifty-minute class guided them to preview what they were going to learn, and review what they had already learned. Daily quizzes reinforced the materials and ensured that students did not lag behind. Our teaching assistant, Olga Chernysheva, was in charge of the language lab session on Thursdays. While she developed a friendly and encouraging learning atmosphere in the lab, rigid requirements were still to be made. I saw students constantly go to the language lab to listen to tapes over and over again. I felt their frustration and the difficulty they faced when they tried all means to memorize Chinese characters. I sensed their sweat and tears. Honestly speaking, I did have sympathy with the route that they needed to pass before they could master tone marks, pronunciation, and grammatical structures, which initially all sounded and looked alien to them.

However, hard work paid off. I heard hilarious voices pounding upon me toward the end of the semester. Some students told me...

I cannot imagine I really learned that much in only one semester
I don't feel learning Chinese is that difficult
Chinese becomes easier and easier as I learn more and get used to it..
I'm proud of myself for being able to recognize several hundred characters now

The majority of them tasted the sweetness of the bitter after the long journey. They survived, and survived well. Everybody graduated from this course with a big sense of pride. Although they still need to work hard on certain areas: for example, to improve their pronunciation, to have a better and more accurate command of tones, to internalize frequently used patterns, and to overcome language transfer problems, to name a few, they successfully learned elementary level Chinese both linguistically and culturally. I would not have said so with full confidence if I have not witnessed their growth and progress in their final presentation.

In their final presentation, students brought Chinese dishes to share and, most importantly, performed a variety of oral skits in Chinese in front of a large audience, including their classmates, peers, and other faculty. After they finished their oral performances, I gave some closing comments. Two students suddenly walked to the front. The first one, Chike, said something that I cannot recall at this moment. Then he granted me a medal reading World's Greatest Teacher on behalf of the whole class. With surprise and tears swelling in eyes, I accepted the medal. The second student, Amanda, gave me a full bag of POPCORN with two hands and a deep respectful bow. She did not say anything, but just smiled at me while handing the bag of popcorn to me with humbleness. Again, with surprise and tears welling in eyes, I accepted the bag of popcorn. You might be wondering at this point why the students would give me a bag of popcorn. Here is the story!

Towards the end of the semester...

Toward the end of the semester, I incorporated cultural instruction into language elements. Two major activities were movie appreciation and cultural assimilators. The students watched Iron and Silk, a film enriched with salient contrasts in both Chinese and American cultures. They enjoyed watching it, with constant laughter and sporadic deep sighs filling the air. The instruction of cultural assimilators was a follow-up activity, which either directly or indirectly associated with several important anecdotes indicative of cultural differences in the movie. When we made comparisons of the role of teachers in Chinese and American norms, I connected one classroom instance with the theme centering upon classroom etiquette.

We watched the movie in a large room that we particularly reserved in the Robertson Media Center. While watching the movie, Amanda was kind enough to bring four large bags of popcorn to share with her peers. The students passed them around and everybody had a handful. Several of them leaned back and put their legs up onto the chair in front of them. Before we started watching the movie, one student sitting in the front casually asked, Do you want some? I said, No, thank you. Although I felt a bit uncomfortable with the situation, I did not comment on it at all on the spot.

In a follow-up session, I explained to the students that in a Chinese classroom, if they want to treat the teacher to something, they should bring it to the teacher in person. Simply asking if the teacher wants to eat some and expecting him or her to take it from students' seat is considered insincere, impolite, and even rude. Some teachers may even feel offended. I comforted Amanda by reminding her that I am not a traditional Chinese teacher and am indeed quite Americanized due to my study in the US for several years. I told them that I am used to American norms and understand how Americans think and act in western educational settings.

That's the story behind the bag of popcorn. I still do not know exactly why and who initiated the idea of giving the bag of popcorn to me that evening. But I am so glad that they had internalized what I taught them in class, and applied it in reality. There lies my most touching moment in the semester. Nothing else can demonstrate their quick absorbing and internalizing of learning materials better than this.

The bag of popcorn contains their love and respect for me and for the Chinese language and culture that they learned from this course. It is the most precious heavenly gift that I have ever received from my students.