Dr Penny Ding BA MA PhD

Confucius Institute Deputy Director (UK) and Senior Lecturer in Chinese Studies Languages, Cultures and Film

About

Personal Statement

ACADEMIC ROLE:
Dr Penny Ding (PhD) is a Senior Lecturer of Chinese Studies in the Department of Languages, Cultures and Film (LCF) and UK Deputy Director of the Confucius Institute (CI) at the University of Liverpool.

EDUCATION:
Dr Ding Studies received her BA degree in English Language and Literature at Qufu Teachers University, and studied her Masters in English linguistics at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU). In 2008 she received her PhD in the School of English, University of Nottingham UK, under the supervision of Professor Zoltán Dörnyei.

LIVERPOOL CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE - DEPUTY DIRECTOR (UK)
In her role as Deputy Director for the Liverpool Confucius Institute (LCI), Dr Ding is responsible for planning and delivering of the LCI’s strategy. This includes budget management, local outreach and liaison, regular events planning, course planning, marketing activities, and reporting on CI activities to UoL.

TEACHING
Prior to undertaking her PhD, Dr Ding was Lecturer in English at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU). She joined UoL in January 2019 from Xi'an Jiaotong Liverpool University (XJTLU), where she held the post of Associate Professor in Applied Linguistics and Director of the MA TESOL. She has extensive experience teaching across applied linguistics, linguistics, translation, interpreting, ESL/EFL education, cultural and communication studies. In addition, she has experience in degree programme design, and was centrally involved in the design and launch of four BA English programmes and two MA programmes in the Department of English at XJTLU. Currently, at the University of Liverpool's School of Modern Language and Cultures, Dr Ding teaches Chinese Cinema, Chinese Studies, Chinese Language at UG level and MA Practical Translation Studies.

RESERCH AREAS
Dr Ding has expertise in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) in relation to student motivation and teacher enthusiasm. Her doctoral research, examining the culturally-bound role of teacher enthusiasm in the second language (L2) classroom and its impact on L2 students’ motivation, is specifically relevant to the challenges of delivering language education in international educational contexts. Her research interests expand across the disciplines of applied linguistics and educational psychology, with a specific interest in second language acquisition (SLA) in transnational higher education contexts and English Medium Instruction (EMI) environments. Her interest in the motivational impact of extracurricular activities in EMI contexts was the focus of a recently completed prestigious National Social Science Fund project funded by the Chinese Ministry of Education.

PHD SUPERVISION
Currently she is also a PhD supervisor for four Chinese students in the areas of Applied Linguistics, Translation, Teaching Chinese to Speakers of other Language (TCSOL) and China Studies. She is interested in supervising PhD students who have interest in areas including Second Language Acquisition, Second Language Teacher Enthusiasm/Motivation in Globalized Educational Contexts, English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI), Chinese Language and Linguistics, and Teaching English/Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages. (TESOL & TCSOL).