The International Forum on Linguistics and Chinese Education (IFOLCE) is organized as an annual conference dedicated to exploring and promoting applications of cutting-edge linguistic research within different frameworks in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language. The establishment of IFOLCE is a joint-effort of a group of colleagues of the field from eight universities in the United States, Beijing, and Hong Kong. Debuting in 2015, the IFOLCE annual conference is to be held rotationally among the three locations.

It has been recognized for a long time that linguistic studies have an essential role to perform in second language teaching. As observed in the great tradition pioneered by Yuen Ren Chao and others, for its robust development, Chinese L2 teaching should be bottomed on a solid basis of Chinese linguistics. With such an understanding, IFOLCE is intended to serve as a premier forum, inviting scholars from around the world to share insightful research and new advances in the domain of interest.

Schedule:

Hosts: Princeton University and the University of Notre Dame

Dates: October 14-16, 2017 (14-15 for forum and 16 for voluntary workshop)

Location: the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN, United States

Format: (1) Plenary presentations (14 reports, 30 minutes each) (2) Themed group presentations (20 minutes each) (3) Roundtable discussions for all (4) Workshops on October 16: To boost Chinese L2 teaching and make it concrete, special workshops will be hosted simultaneously by the University of Notre Dame and Northwestern University. The contents include class observations and introductions of Chinese L2 teaching methods by experienced senior lecturers. An extra $60, including one-way transportation to Chicago and lunch, will be collected if you choose the Northwestern workshop.

Theme: Chinese L2 Teaching: Past and Present

The subject is Chinese L2 teaching and its further development based on the summary of the past, the discussion of the present and the reflection on the future. IFOLCE-3 focuses on the history of Chinese L2 teaching, starts out with the current situation and devotes to its progress. We welcome proposals for presentations concerning all types of research on Chinese language learning and teaching.

The conference aims to include, but is not limited to, the following themes:

1. The historical development of Chinese L2 teaching in United States or other countries

2. The development of teaching materials and teaching methods

3. The effect of linguistic theories on Chinese L2 teaching in different stages

4. Classroom Applications of current Second-Language-Acquisition theories

5. The innovation and challenges of technology to Chinese L2 teaching

6. The relationship between Chinese L2 teaching and new theories of other subjects (E.g. Cognition, Psychology, Sociology, Database and Artificial Intelligence)

Sun Dejin Young Scholar Theses Award (SYSTA):

This award is firstly offered as an encouragement to young scholars who wish to devote themselves to the study of teaching Chinese as a second lanuage, a field in which Professor Dejin Sun was especially interested in, and to which he made numerous important contributions. The award is an annual prize in the amount of US $300, donated by the funding members of the Professors of IFOLCE.

Eligibility Criteria for SYSTA:

1. 40 years of age or below in the year of the conference; current rank below that of Professor in the Chinese university system, and below that of Associate Professor in the American university system

2. Each participant is required to submit a full paper of no more than 20 pages (single-spaced) in length. All submissions for the SYSTA competition must be original papers that have not been published or accepted for publication, nor presented at a major conference and appeared in its proceedings. Please list “SYSTA” as the first item in the list of keywords.

3. A maximum of 3 finalists will be selected, and each will be invited to the forum to give an oral presentation at a special session organized for this purpose. The author of the best paper selected by the panel will be honored at the annual conference and presented with a prize and an award certificate.

Abstract Submission:

•Two pages in MS Word Format: Page 1: the title of the paper, 3-4 keywords, and the author’s name, affiliation, and contact information (including email); Page 2: abstract (including the title of the paper). Abstracts are limited to one page (using 1 inch margins on all sides), including examples and (selected) references.

•To ensure unbiased reviews, all abstracts shall be anonymous.

•Abstracts can be written in either Chinese or English, with English font size 12 pt or Chinese Song font “small 4”;

•Each person may submit no more than one single-authored or first-authored abstract in addition to one joint-authored abstract.

•All abstracts should be submitted by email to .

•Selected IFOLCE papers will be considered for including in Linguistics and Chinese Education (Vol.3) to be published by the Beijing Language and Culture University Press. All the authors who wish publish their papers shall submit their full papers to the website no later than one month after the forum.

Important Dates:

•Abstract submission deadline: May 1, 2017

•Notice of acceptance (by email): by June 1, 2017

•Presenter registration online for program scheduling: by August 1, 2017

•Non-presenter registration online: by September 1, 2017

•Conference date/Workshop: October 14-16, 2017

•Submission of full papers: by November 20, 2017

Registration Fees:

Registration fees will be $100 per person, and $50 for students. All fees received will be non-refundable. Conference materials as well as the meals of October 14th and lunch of the 15th will be provided. Participants shall bear all other expenses incurred.

Organizers (in alphabetic order):

Chih-Ping Chou, Princeton University

Yongping Zhu, University of Notre Dame

Co-Organizer of Workshop:

Licheng Gu, Northwestern University

IFOLCE Organizing Committee (in alphabetic order):

Chih-Ping Chou, Princeton University

Chengzhi Chu, University of California, Davis

Shengli Feng, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Lening Liu, Columbia University

Chaofen Sun, Stanford University

Jianqing Wang, Beijing Language and Culture University

Weiping Wu, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Yang Zhao, Peking University

Yongping Zhu, University of Notre Dame

Contact Email： ifolce@yeah.net

Forum Website: http://www.ifolce.org

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