Chinese Studies Research Group Lunch Seminar 22 June 2007

Chinese Studies Research Group Lunch Seminar 22 June 2007

Venue: Tutorial / Committee Room, Ground Floor, Baillieu Library

Program:

11 - 11:15

Registration and morning tea

11:15 - 11:20

Welcome (Emily Dunn, President, Chinese Studies Research Group; Ph D Candidate, Asia Institute )

11:20 - 12:00
Topic: Motivational Force and Imagined Community in 'Crazy English'

Speaker: Jingyan Li (D ED Candidate, Faculty of Education)

12:00 - 12:40
Topic: "Creative reading of the classic texts: a sample study of Ge Hong's argument of Immortals and Plato's mathematical universe"

Speaker: Dr. Ji Zhang (Ph D, Asia Institute)

12:45 - 1: 30 Lunch

1:30 - 2:10

Topic: International Comparisons of Performance of China's Vocational Education and Training System

Speaker: Zhenyi Guo, Ph D Candidate, Faculty of Education

2: 15 - 2:45

Afternoon tea

Remarks: RSVP to Bick-har Yeung bhy@unimelb.edu.au and Emily Dunn e.dunn1@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au by 15 June 2007 for catering purpose.

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Program Details

11:20 - 12:00
Topic: Motivational Force and Imagined Community in 'Crazy English'

Speaker: Jinyan Li (D ED Candidate, Faculty of Education)

Summary:

Motivational Force and Imagined Community in 'Crazy English'
'Crazy English' (CE), founded by Li Yang, is one of the most radical and most popular English learning programs in China. A decade on, it has enjoyed praises and criticisms. I argue that if CE offers anything new or valuable, we just cannot afford to ignore it. Thus a qualitative study has been conducted to investigate CE learners' motivation and the imagined communities CE created. This paper is a tentative analysis of a fraction of data gathered from fieldwork in light of contemporary theories of language pedagogy and learning motivation.

12:00 - 12:40
Topic: "Creative reading of the classic texts: a sample study of Ge Hong's argument of Immortals and Plato's mathematical universe"

Speaker: Dr. Ji Zhang (Ph D, Asia Institute)

Summary:

In this presentation, I will take two sample texts that are seemly incomparable, and work the texts down to those irreducible arguments. By comparing them, I will highlight some common problems in comparative studies:
boundary of historical documents, projection of western thoughts, the problem of criteria, and the lack of self-confidence in classic Chinese thought.
The comparison does not make value judgement on which tradition is more superior, but brings a crucial point in comparative study into our focus, namely knowing the existential ground.
Towards the end of a doctoral study, one must voice his/her original and creative view of the subject matter. But this intellectual virtue can only come about when one knows where s/he stands.

1:30 - 2:10

Topic: International Comparisons of Performance of China's Vocational Education and Training System

Speaker: Zhenyi Guo, Ph D Candidate, Faculty of Education

Summary: Rapid industrial and economic growth in China has led to growing demand for better skilled workers, increasing the need for an evaluation of the performance of the VET system. There is a strong history of such evaluations using international comparative studies that can provide policy-makers and educators with data to measure how effectively education systems are functioning. But there have been few attempts to include China in international comparisons of vocational education and training. It would seem timely, therefore, to attempt to assess the feasibility of undertaking international comparisons of VET for China . This study employs a comparative indicator approach, in conjunction with a provincial case study, to measure the performance of the VET system in China against other countries. The results show, using available data, that development is needed in areas such as input and resources, requiring targeted policy interventions to help improve quality and opportunity. I concluded that although making an international comparison of VET in China with some selected countries is possible and feasible. There are great limitations in statistical data collection and data collecting methods. Great efforts are needed to make improvement on all the raised issues concerned.