Reported by: CHEN Hongwei, JI Xing
Translated by: JIA Yingxue
Edited by: Jennifer Taylor
Recently HIT School of Foreign Languages Department 1, Associate Professor ZHANG Hui won fifth place in the 4th SFLEP National Foreign Language Teaching Contest.
Everyone wants to have their stage. Our mind determines the size of the stage; passion is the key to impressing audiences. In Zhang Hui’s mind, the podium is her stage that can release her passion and spread knowledge.
In November 2013, ZHANG Hui won the First Prize in the English Listening and Speaking Lesson contest of the 3rd Foreign Language Teaching Contest of Heilongjiang in her group. The contest was part of the 4th SFLEP National Foreign Language Teaching Contest. She also won the Grand Prize in the contest of the two Firsts of both groups and qualified for the National Finals.
After a month of training, Zhang Hui stood on the stage of the National Finals. The Finals was divided into two parts. In the first round 10 people would be selected among the outstanding English teachers from 29 provinces, municipalities and autonomous region. In the draw part determining the order, ZHANG Hui accidentally got the first. “Arguably, the first person usually is more likely to lose. However, in my opinion, ranking is not so important for me, because at least, I have entered the national competition. Enjoy the process is enough for me.” She said. Without worrying, she actually entered the second round with a wonderful performance.
The second round is divided into two sections, including 10 minutes’ lecture and 5 minutes’ answering the judges’ questions. The organizing Committee provided a 5-minute video for the contest groups of English Listening and Speaking Lesson. Each contestant needed to fully understand the teaching content in just 30 minutes, make judgments about teaching emphasis and difficulty, and design the teaching rationally surrounding the provided materials. Later, contestants would deliver their lessons in 7-10 minutes, so that they could show their lesson design fully to the judges.
ZHANG Hui’s topic was food waste. Preparing lessons quickly is not difficult for her, and soon she designed every aspect of the lesson. However, unlike her usual calm, she suddenly froze before several minutes of her Lesson. Luckily, she recovered quickly. “Perhaps because I am here on behalf of our school, with everyone's expectations and exhortations, I still have pressure. While, after all, this is the stage I am familiar with,” she said. Finally, she finished her lecture coherently. With smooth expression and swift response, she received warm applause from the judges and other contestants. She won fifth place.
“I have been working for years, and my passion may have reduced. The contest made me realize that my passion has always been there. The greatest achievement of this contest is that I carried out a summary and reflection on my English teaching. During the contest, I learn a lot from the other contestants,” she told us. When other contestants were doing lectures, Zhang Hui took notes carefully. When the contest was ended, she had filled two notebooks.
Life is peaceful after the contest. Now, Zhang Hui still gives lectures to students regularly. The podium is her favorite stage. The class has her most familiar students. She often calls students’ names to know her students, to care them and to understand them. She thinks that all students are lovely. The happiest thing is that those lovely students actively interact with her in the class. “Ms ZHANG is enthusiastic. Her classes are very interesting. In class, we can always discuss some problems together. The interactive action let time pass quickly. We can also unconsciously learn a lot,” students of ZHANG Hui said. “Ms ZHANG is very popular among the students. I think it is inextricably linked with her inspired interactive teaching methods,” the Vice Dean of School of Foreign Languages LI Xiaohong commented.
In the reading class, ZHANG Hui likes bringing the students some foreign magazines and newspapers, whose themes are related to the lesson. She encourages students to think deeply on the issues, then elaborate their views in English and discuss together. “In addition to teaching English as a language tool, I like to develop students’ critical thinking, because reading is not just input, but output after understanding,” ZHANG Hui said. In her opinion, standards to judge things are diverse. Teachers should encourage students to identify problems, to think more, and to use English as a tool to express their views. This is the ideal teaching method.
“Ways of learning English are more and more, especially in information age. However, the internet is a double-edged sword. There are so many sources of information and is is so complicated that people don’t know how to deal with it. I suggest that students should develop self-control first, form good habits, and reasonably use the positive side of the internet to learn autonomously.” As for English learning of college students, Zhang Hui suggested that we should "have determination, and be active."
After two "Seven Year Itch" periods in her teaching career, Zhang Hui hopes to continue in her own way, with her own passion to ignite students' enthusiasm for learning English, and grow together with her students.
Photo of Zhang Hui
