About

Being Subject Leader of Chinese, Zhiyan is responsible for Chinese programme in Warwick. She has designed all Chinese modules from beginner up to advanced levels, taught almost all of them, and is co-ordinating the team which has become stronger and stronger in the past years. Meanwhile, the Study-China Summer and longer term Year-Abroad programmes have been established to secure opportunities for students who take Chinese as part of their degree, as an elective module and as a lifelong learning class, to experience China through studying and working. Currently intercultural virtual exchange projects are running with Chinese universities.

Zhiyan’s research interests include intercultural communication, Chinese characters and reading, second language acquisition, and language teaching and technology. After completing her Ph.D in Education with the full support from the UK Oversea Research Scholarship (ORS), she has worked on projects concerning Internationalisation, e-learning, teaching and assessment. She has published her monograph in Intercultural Mediation, and serves as reviewer for journals and books for publishers such as Routledge. She has also published articles and co-edited books on Chinese pedagogy.

Zhiyan served as Chair of the British Chinese Language Teaching Society (BCLTS) from 2016 to 2018, and previously as the Editor on the Committee of BCLTS from 2014. She also shares her expertise for other national organisations, e.g. Ofqual, Cambridge International Examination, as a consulting specialist. Zhiyan has acted as an External Examiner for various programmes including undergraduate Chinese degree, IWLP in Chinese, MA translation and doctoral studies in Teaching Chinese as a second/foreign language in British and Irish universities.

Recent Publications

Monograph

Guo, Zhiyan (2014) Young Children as Intercultural Mediators: a Study of Mandarin-speaking Chinese Families in Britain. Bristol, New York: Multilingual Matters.

Edited book/Special Issue

• Xing, M, Guo, Z and Hird, D. (2022). Special Issue on Multiple Approaches to Translation and Intercultural Communication. International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching, Vol. 12, Issue 5.
• Guo, Z. and Zhao, S. (2018) Teaching and Learning Chinese in Global Contexts: from language policy to classroom practice. Applied Chinese Language Studies IX: 270 pp. London: Sinolingua London Ltd.
• Zhao, S. and Guo, Z. (2017) Inheritance and Innovation: teaching and learning Chinese as a Foreign Language: Theory and Practice of Teaching Chinese in Higher Education - Applied Chinese Language Studies VIII: 151pp. London: Sinolingua London Ltd.
• Zheng, B. and Guo, Z. (2016) Acquisition, Assessment and Application: Theory and Practice of Teaching Chinese in Higher Education - Applied Chinese Language Studies VII: 272pp. London: Sinolingua London Ltd.
• Guo, Z. and Zheng, B (2015) Recent Developments of Chinese Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Applied Chinese Language Studies VI: 256pp. London: Sinolingua London Ltd.

Chapter in book

Guo, Z. (2023) Children as intercultural mediators (https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003227441-59). In D. Busch (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Intercultural Mediation. New Yor: Routledge.

Wang, J. and Guo, Z. (2017) Developing Intercultural Competence Through Study Abroad Programmes in China: An Analysis of Student Experience at Two British Universities. In pp. 41- 62 T. Jin and F. Dervin (Eds.), Interculturality in Chinese Language Education, Palgrave Studies on Chinese Education in a Global Perspective, London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Guo, Z (2016) Natural Translation and Curriculum Design at the Advanced Level of International Chinese Teaching. In pp.187-197 Zheng, B. and Guo, Z (Eds.) Acquisition, Assessment and Application: Theory and Practice of Teaching Chinese in Higher Education (Applied Chinese Language Studies VII). London: Sinolingua London Ltd.

Guo, Z. & Guo, Z. (2013) Learner Engagement in Computer-Mediated Chinese Learning. In pp. 104-117, Zou, B., et al (Eds.) Computer-Assisted Foreign Languages Teaching and Learning: Technological Advances. Hershey, USA: IGI Global.

Hall, N and Guo, Z (2012) Child Language and Cultural Brokering. In pp. 51-76 M. Ivars & M. Mayor (Eds.) Interpreting Brian Harris: Recent Development in Translatology. Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang.

Guo, Z. (2012）An Exploration of CFL Beginners' Reading Process. In pp. 40-55 L. Hong (Ed.) Chinese Language Teaching in Universities Abroad in a Context of Globalisation. Shanghai, China: Xuelin Publishing House.  

Journal article

Guo, Z and Xu, X. (2023) Understanding intercultural virtual exchange through a translanguaging lens in Chinese as a foreign language. Journal of China Computer-Assisted Language Learning, Volume 3 Issue 1 - Special Issue: Technology-Enhanced Teaching of Chinese as a Foreign Language; Guest Editors: Dr. Lijing Shi and Dr. Qian Kan (degruyter.com).

Guo, Z. (2021) A Study of Chinese Language Teaching at British Universities: How Communicative are Chinese Teachers’ Methods? International Journal of Chinese Language Teaching, Vol. 2 (1) 66-86.

Guo, Z. (2011) Development of Chinese Character Learning Strategies among Beginners: A Sociocultural Perspective. In pp. 45-66 CHUN (Chinesisch Unterricht) 26, IUDICIUM Verlag GmbH Munchen

Administration Roles:

Subject Leader of Chinese
Examination secretary (LC) (2014-2021)
Chinese Year-Abroad Co-ordinator
SMLC+PAIS Chinese degree admission tutor

Professional Associations

The British Chinese Language Teaching Society
The British Association for Chinese Studies
The European Association of Chinese Teaching
The International Society for Chinese Language Teaching
The International Society for Conversation Analysis

advice and feedback hours (email for appointment):

Tues. 10 am - 12 pm

Wed. 4 - 6 pm

Room:

Online or F2F, FAB 4.21

Central Campus

Book Cover:

Young Children as Intercultural Mediators: Mandarin-speaking Chinese Families in BritainLink opens in a new window. Bristol, New York: Multilingual Matters.