Durham

Teaching and Innovating at Durham University: Enhancing Language Learning through Interaction and Engagement

From August 2021 to May 2022, I worked as a Mandarin Chinese tutor at Durham University’s Centre for Foreign Language Study (CFLS), part of the School of Modern Languages and Cultures. During this time, I was responsible for developing and delivering Stage 2 and Stage 3 Chinese courses, teaching students from a wide range of academic disciplines.

One of the key challenges I embraced was designing flexible courses that could be taught both in-person and online via Zoom, responding to the evolving needs of students during the pandemic. This required careful curriculum development, innovative teaching design, and ongoing optimization of learning materials and assessments to ensure high engagement and progress across all formats.

Building an Engaging and Dynamic Learning Environment

Throughout my courses, I worked to create an engaging, interactive classroom experience, blending a variety of methods to support language development while keeping learning relevant and enjoyable.

Drawing from my PhD research on learner demotivation and my practical experience in UK Higher Education, I implemented a mixed-method teaching approach that combined:

• Task-based learning and communicative language teaching

• Independent learning sheets for autonomous practice

• Traditional grammar and vocabulary scaffolding

• Pair work, group projects, and creative writing exercises

• Cultural immersion experiences

• Interactive classroom games, including Jeopardy, Bingo, and Kahoot

• Homework tasks relevant to real-life scenarios

This multi-layered approach aimed to address the pedagogical issues that often demotivate language learners, such as monotonous exercises, outdated materials, and lack of contextual relevance.

I was honored to receive positive and appreciative feedback from students, including comments like:

“I like how we mix doing different methods of learning because it keeps our classes interesting.”

“We often do fun things in class and enjoy working with our language partners.”

Such feedback reinforced my belief in active, student-centered learning and the need for varied and meaningful activities that sustain motivation and enhance language acquisition.

Innovating with Tandem Language Learning: A Collaborative Approach

One of my most impactful innovations at Durham was the tandem language learning programme that I designed and implemented as part of weekly practical sessions. This initiative was aimed at encouraging authentic, meaningful interactions between Chinese language learners and native speakers of Chinese, bridging classroom learning with real-world communication.

I created pair and group learning tasks tailored to the students’ specific needs, focusing on:

• Reducing language anxiety through supportive peer interaction

• Fostering student agency and ownership over their learning

• Developing intercultural understanding and communication skills

The tandem programme was carefully designed as a practice-based learning model, suitable for both in-class and out-of-class interactions. Its goal was to increase exposure to authentic language use while creating a safe, collaborative environment for learners to practice speaking and listening.

Student Reflections and Impact

At the end of the term, I conducted a learner survey to evaluate the tandem programme, and I was deeply encouraged by the positive responses from students, who shared reflections such as:

“I liked working with other students either during activities or just practising speaking. It is nice helping others and having them help you when you get stuck.”

“Great help in improving my speaking and listening skills and a great help in learning about Chinese culture.”

“My language partner has given me good language advice and helped me improve my confidence in Chinese.”

“They were so patient and non-judgemental.”

These responses highlighted the transformational impact of the tandem programme on students’ confidence, fluency, intercultural awareness, and motivation.

Reflections and Future Research Directions

From my reflections and student feedback, I believe that tandem language learning is an innovative, low-cost, and high-impact approach with significant pedagogical potential for language education. Through authentic communication and social interaction, students can accelerate their language development, enhance cultural understanding, and build greater confidence in real-life communication.

The success of this initiative led me to present my initial research findings at the AULC Conference 2022, and I hope to further develop this project as part of my ongoing research on language learning motivation and intercultural communication.

In future roles, I am keen to explore how tandem learning can be adapted and scaled for different language programmes, and to examine its long-term impact on learners’ language proficiency and social-emotional development. Should I have the opportunity to continue this work, I am excited to investigate more deeply how collaborative, peer-based learning can foster inclusive and empowering language learning environments.

Key Takeaways from Durham Teaching Experience

• Designing interactive, engaging, and student-centered Chinese courses for diverse learners.

• Successfully blending in-person and online learning through creative use of digital tools.

• Innovating with tandem language learning to support authentic communication and intercultural understanding.

• Addressing student demotivation through diverse, creative teaching strategies.

• Gathering and integrating student feedback to improve learning experiences.

Teaching at Durham has further shaped my philosophy that language learning is not only about mastering grammar and vocabulary but about creating meaningful connections — between languages, cultures, and people. I look forward to continuing to develop innovative teaching approaches that empower students as confident, culturally aware communicators.