Diane N

I have taught Mandarin Chinese to grades 4-12. I have also taught adult classes in person and online. My students generally do not have a heritage Chinese background, so I teach Mandarin Chinese mainly to non-native speakers from zero beginners through Intermediate Low ability. I have been teaching since 2006. In 2017, I began a PhD program in Foreign Language and ESL Education at the University of Iowa.

Teaching with Comprehensible Input, including methodologies such as TPR, TPRS, and MovieTalk. I believe that language fluency develops as students hear and read messages in the target language which they can understand, so I focus class time on co-creating interesting conversations and readings with my students. I believe in fostering students' intercultural understanding through discovery-based cultural learning that uses Chinese sources (images, videos, films) and is integrated with our classroom communication in Chinese.

Participant in Intensive Summer Languages Institute sponsored by American Councils, 2012. ACTFL Writing Proficiency Test - July 2013 Advanced High ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview - August 2012 Advanced Mid

Wittenberg University, B.A. in East Asian Studies, 1995. Trinity International University, M.A.R., 2000. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction license earned 2014. University of Iowa student earning PhD in Foreign Language and ESL Education (graduating in May 2022).

I enjoy opportunities to present about Chinese language teaching and language teaching more generally, and have done so at iFLT, The Agen Workshop, Central States Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, ACTFL's national convention, and state-level conferences.