UCD IICS Public Lecture Series and the 56th Confucius PhD Forum Successfully Held

 

The UCD Irish Institute for Chinese Studies (IICS) successfully hosted a public lecture entitled "Reshaping Language Teaching, Policy, and Teacher Education Programmes: The Role of Second Language Acquisition Theory and Research" on 3 October 2024, at the UCD Confucius Institute. The speaker was Professor Alessandro G. Benati, Head of the UCD School of Education and a renowned scholar in language education. Professor Colin Scott, UCD Registrar and Deputy President also attended the forum.

One of the highlights of the forum was the launch of Professor Benati's new book, SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION: A Cognitive and Evidence-Based Perspective. In his lecture, Professor Benati, from the perspective of second language acquisition theory, provided an in-depth explanation of the nature of language, its representation in the brain, and the complex process of language acquisition. He also explored in detail how these theories influence the design and implementation of language teaching and teacher education programs. He specifically pointed out that many language teaching programs lack the deep involvement of linguistics experts, leading to misunderstandings about the nature of language teaching. For example, treating language learning merely as the mastery of grammatical rules or overemphasized the role of error correction in improving language proficiency.

In a lively Q&A session, students actively asked questions related to second language teaching. Professor Benati, drawing on the latest research in second language acquisition, provided specific suggestions for improving teacher training. He also called on educators and policymakers to reflect on and adjust current language teaching practices and educational policies.

At the end of the lecture, Professor Liming Wang, Director of IICS, presented Professor Benati with an honorary certificate and a commemorative gift to express his gratitude on behalf of the Institute.