Role
Dr Hsiu-Chih Sheu teaches on the BA Mandarin Chinese. She is module leader for level 2 and level 3 Mandarin Chinese modules and the Chinese Translation and Interpreting module. She also serves as the ULP (University Language Program) Chinese Subject Co-ordinator. She is a dissertation supervisor for BA Mandarin Chinese students and a personal tutor for Year 1 and Year 2 students.
Career overview
Dr Sheu was an experienced English teacher in Taiwan for many years before studying at the University of Reading, undertaking an MA degree in children’s literature. She then moved to the University of York to undertake her PhD. As a PhD Student, Dr Sheu worked as a Mandarin Chinese tutor at the University of York. After obtaining her degree, Dr Sheu went back to Taiwan to work as an Assistant Professor in Da-Yeh University, teaching research methods and teaching methods before coming to NTU in 2008.
Research areas
Dr Sheu's research area is in children’s literature and language teaching. She is currently looking at how Chinese folktales can be used as an effective tool in teaching Chinese as a foreign language to help students with their language learning and raise their awareness of the cultural connotation in the story.
She is also currently working on the following research areas:
- The learning strategies used by students to increase their language proficiency and cultural competence when they are abroad in China.
- The use of typing in Chinese writing in comparison to handwriting
- The use of stories/writing in the Chinese as a foreign language classroom
Opportunities to carry out postgraduate research towards an MPhil/PhD in the School of Arts and Humanities exist and further information may be obtained from the NTU Graduate School.
Publications
Sheu, H.C. (2018). Language learning strategies and intercultural competence in the Year Abroad study in China. In F. Dervin (Ed), International students in China: Education, student life and intercultural encounters. Palgrave Macmillan.
Conference presentations:
2018 Year Abroad Conference in New Castle University “Year abroad in China: Inside and Outside classroom.”
2018 The 16th BCLTS Conferences in Warwick University “Please tell me a Joke- The use of jokes in teaching Chinese as a foreign language classroom in UK.
2017 The 15th BCLTS Conferences on Teaching and Learning Chinese in Higher Education, Southampton University, UK. “Imaging the best of both worlds—Exploring the blended use of character handwriting and Pinyin typing in Chinese writing assessment” with Lingling Mao.
2016 The 14th BCLTS on International Symposium on Innovations in Teaching, New Castle University, “The presentation of Chinese culture and
Intercultural communication in the Chinese textbooks for CFL beginners”
2011 The 9th BCLTS on International Symposium on Innovations in Teaching, Edinburgh, U.K. “The use of Chinese folktales in teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language”