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Faculty

Dr. Sharon Wen

Xiaohong ‘Sharon’ Wen, Ph.D
Professor, Applied Linguistics and Chinese Language Acquisition
Director, Chinese Studies

664 Agnes Arnold Hall
Phone: (713) 743-3072 

View CV

Dr. Xiaohong ‘Sharon’ Wen is a Professor of Applied Linguistics and Chinese Language Acquisition. She is the director of Chinese Studies at UH since 1994. She has founded and built the Chinese Studies program from one elementary Chinese course into an interdisciplinary Bachelor of Arts program and a Minor in Chinese Studies. In addition to the degree programs, Chinese Studies also offers a faculty-led Summer Study Abroad Program and annual scholarships for study abroad and excellence in Chinese Studies at both undergraduate and graduate levels.

Dr. Wen has conducted a series of empirical studies from both the quantitative and qualitative perspectives. She has published four books and 40 research articles on second language (L2) motivation, L2 Chinese acquisition, interlanguage pragmatics, heritage language, and L2 learner factors. She utilizes L2 Chinese learners’ language production and survey/interview methods to conduct empirical studies to test hypotheses and construct theories of L2 acquisition. Practically, her research findings bear on issues such as learner factors, learning processes and strategies, and methods to connect research with classroom instruction. Her books were published by the Peking University Press (北京大学出版社), the Press of Beijing Language and Culture University (北京语言大学出版社), and Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, London, UK. Her L2 Chinese motivation instruments have been widely adopted in L2 research including English, Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese languages. Her empirical studies have been reprinted and translated into Korean and Chinese. She is the Principal Investigator for several major federal and internal grants. 

Dr. Wen is a Guest Professor at four prestigious universities in China and Taiwan. She has received awards including the Sydney B. Karofsky Teaching Prize from Bowdoin College, the Lence Award for Teaching Excellence, and the Global Faculty Award from the University of Houston. She is an AP Chinese Consultant for the College Board and is currently serving on the AP Chinese Development Committee. She has served and is serving on the Editorial boards of JCLTA and CASLAR (Chinese as Second Language Research), and national and international boards of directors for academic associations including CLTA-US, IACL (International Association of Chinese Linguistics) and the International Society for Chinese Language Teaching (世汉教学学会).

Selected Publications

A. Books

2019. Studies on Learning and Teaching Chinese as a Second Language. Editor & Author. London, UK: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN: 978-0-8153-8232-4 (hbk), 978-0-8153-8240-9 (pbk)

Links:
2019 New Book Studies on CSL Wen
Chpt1 Intro. Studies on L2 Chinese Wen

2015. Teaching Chinese as a Second Language: Curriculum Design and Instruction, Chief Editor & Author. The Press of Beijing Language and Culture University. Beijing, China. Chicago, USA. ISBN: 978-1-62575-017-4. 364 pages.

Link:
2015 Teaching CL2 Curriclm Design & Instruct Wen

2012. 《汉语作为第二语言的习得与教学》 Chinese as a Second Language Acquisition and Instruction. 384 pages. 北京大学出版社 The Peking University Press. Beijing, China. ISBN 978-7-301-21446-6/H 3162.

Link:
2012 Learning & Teaching Chinese as a L2 WEN

2008.《汉语作为外语的习得研究: 理论基础与课堂实践》 Studies of Chinese Language Acquisition by English Speakers:  from Theories to Practice, 375 pages. 北京大学出版社 The Peking University Press. Beijing, China. The book was reprinted in 2010.

Link:
2008 汉语作为外语的习得研究 Wen

B. Selected Journal Articles & Book Chapters

2019. Research in second language acquisiton of Chinese: An introduction. In Studies on Learning and Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, 1-14. Ed. X. Wen & X. Jiang. London, UK: Routledge.

2019. Requests in Chinese by heritage and foreign language learners. In Studies on Learning and Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, 38-64. Ed. X. Wen & X. Jiang. London, UK: Routledge.

2018. Motivation and Chinese second language acquisition. In Routledge Handbook of Chinese Second Language Acquisition, 352-372. Ed. C. Ke. London, UK: Routledge.

2018. Chinese learning motivation and research-based instruction in Explorations in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, 59-74. Ed. X. Yang & W. Ka. Cheng & Tsui publishing.

2017. Chinese language development in the US: students, curriculum, and teachers. 美国的汉语国际传播:学生、课程、教师. Studies on Chinese Language International Development《汉语国际传播研究》2, 11-25. The Commercial Press, China.

2015. Theme-based curriculum and research-based instruction: an introduction. In X. Wen and N. Bi, Teaching Chinese as a Second Language: Curriculum Design and Instruction, I-XXII. The Press of Beijing Language and Culture University. Chicago, USA; Beijing, China.

2014. CLTA 2012 Survey of College-Level Chinese Language Programs in North America (Co-authored with Yu and Xie). Journal of Chinese Language Teachers Association. 1, 1-49.

2014. Pragmatic Development: An Exploratory Study of Requests by Learners of Chinese. A book chapter in Z. Han (Ed.) Second Language Acquisition of Chinese: A Series of Empirical Studies. PP. 30-57. Multilingual Matters, www.multilingual-atters.com/display.asp?k=9781783092086.

2013. 语言的输入、输出与课堂的互动设计 Input, Output, and Design of Interactive Class Activities. 汉语学习 Chinese Language Learning. 2 86-94

2013. 汉语为外语的学习情感态度、动机研究A Study of Chinese Language Learning Attitudes and Motivation. 世界汉语教学 Chinese Teaching in the World. 4. The Press of the Beijing Language and Culture University. 73-85.

2012. A daunting task: The acquisition of the Chinese Ba-construction by nonnative speakers of Chinese. Journal of Chinese Linguistics. 216-240. The Chinese University Press of Hong Kong.

2011. Chinese language learning motivation: A comparative study of heritage and non-heritage learners. Heritage Language Journal, 8(3), 41-66.

2011. 美国中文教学面临的挑战与对应策略 Challenges and Changes in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language in the USA.  世界汉语教学 Chinese Teaching in the World. 4. The Press of the Beijing Language and Culture University. 538-553.

2011. 语言习得与汉语课任务的设计 Language acquisition and design of task-based instruction in a Chinese classroom. 国际汉语 Chinese language in the World, 1 (Journal’s Initial Issue). 中山大学出版社The Sun Yatsen University Press, China. 20-28.

2010. Acquisition of the displacement Ba-construction by English-speaking learners of Chinese. Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association. 45:2, 73-99.

2009.  Teaching listening and speaking: An interactive approach. In M. Everson and Y. Xiao (Eds.) Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language: Theories and Applications. pp. 131-150. Cheng & Cui Publishing, Boston. (My article is used as a sample to promote the book: http://www.cheng-tsui.com/files/TCFL_excerpts.pdf)

2008. 语言习得与语法教学 Language acquisition and Grammar teaching.  汉语学习 Chinese Language Learning. 2, 76-84.

2008. Bridging language and culture: a study of Chinese Guanyongyu compounds. Journal of Chinese Linguistics. The Chinese University Press of Hong Kong. 36:2, 249-273.

2007. 教学输入与学习者的语言输出Instructional input and learner’s output. Chinese Teaching in the World, (A special issue to celebrate the journal’s 20th anniversary 世界汉语教学:创刊20周年纪念专号). 3 , 108-119. The Press of the Beijing Language and Culture University, China.

2007. 对外汉语教学:语言习得的理论基础 Theoretical foundations of research in Chinese language acquisition.  In 崔希亮 (Ed.) Chinese Language Education: International Interactions. pp. 83-106. 商务出版社 The Commercial Press, Beijing, China.

2006. 语言习得与教学内容 Language acquisition and teaching contentsJournal of Chinese Language Studies, 2. 48-67. 北京大学出版社 The Peking University Press, China.

2006. Acquisition sequence of three constructions:  An analysis of the Interlanguage of learners of Chinese as a foreign languageJournal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association. 41:3, 89-114.

2001. Chinese language articulation: A report on the CLTA Board project, Co-authors: C. Ke, X. Wen, & C. Kotenbeutel,  Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association. 36:3, 25-60.

2000. 汉语习得偏误及改错的效益 Error in Chinese language acquisition and effect of feedback. 第六届国际汉语教学论文选 Selected Articles of the Sixth International Symposium Chinese Language Teaching. Eds 胡明扬,鲁健冀,张德鑫. pp. 195-203. Beijing:  Beijing University Press.

1999. Error and corrective feedback. Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association. 34:3,1-22. (The first article in the journal).

1999.  Chinese learning motivation: a comparative study of different ethnic groups. In Chu, M. (Ed.) Mapping the Course of the Chinese Language Field. pp. 121-150. The Chinese Language Teachers Association Monograph Series, Vol. III.

1998. Improving reading strategies through an understanding of culture and languageEducational Resources Information Center ( ERIC) on Language and Linguistics. ED 427 540, FL 025 736.

1997. Motivation and language learning with students of ChineseForeign Language Annals. 30:2, 235-252.

1997. Acquisition of Chinese Aspect: An analysis of the Interlanguage of Learners of Chinese as a Foreign Language.  I.T.L. Review of Applied Linguistics. 115-116: 1-26.

1996. Multimedia contextual cues and listening comprehension: the interactive multimedia listening comprehension program.  Educational Resources Information Center ( ERIC) on Language and Linguistics. ED 406 835, FL 024 491.

1995.  Second language acquisition of the Chinese particle le International Journal of Applied Linguistics. 5:1, 45-62. 

1995. Chinese language learning Motivation.  Educational Resources Information Center ( ERIC) on Language and Linguistics. ED391 373.

1995. Chinese and English language processing strategies within individualsJournal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association. 30:2, 127-145.

1994. Topic prominence in the acquisition of Chinese existential sentences by English-speakers. International Journal of Psycholinguistics. 10:2, 127-145.

1992. Comparison of first and second language acquisitionLanguage Teaching and Linguistic Studies. 3: 49-65.  The Press of Beijing Language Institute, China.

1992. Survey of current theories of second language acquisition. Chinese Teaching in the World. No.1, pp. 45-48; No.2, pp. 147-153. Co-author with J. Zhang. The Press of Beijing Language and Culture University, China.

1989. Chinese passives: transformational or lexical? Co-author with J. Zhang.   Linguistic Analysis. 17: 3-4, 200-216.

C. Translated and Selected Articles

2006. 主题突出与汉语存在句习得研究 Topic prominence in the acquisition of Chinese existential sentences by English-speakers.  In 王建勤 (Ed.) Studies on Acquisition of Chinese as a Second Language. pp. 295-310. 商务出版社The Commercial Press, Beijing, China.

2005. Acquisition of Chinese aspect: An analysis of the interlanguage of learners of Chinese as a foreign language, in the book Linguistic Research in Teaching Modern Chinese. pp. 67-101.  Korea Education Commission.  (The article was translated and reprinted in Korean).

2005. Second language acquisition of the Chinese particle le, in the book: Linguistic Research in Teaching Modern Chinese. pp. 105-139.  Korea Education Commission.  (The article was translated and reprinted in Korean).

1995. The acquisition of Chinese existential sentences.  Chinese Teaching in the World. 32:2, 52-59. The Beijing Language Institute Press, China. (The article was translated in Chinese).

1993. An abstract of “Comparison of first and second language acquisition”. The Almanac of Chinese Linguistic,中国语言学年鉴. p.218. In李行键 (Ed.), 语文出版社Yuwen Press.

Teaching

Courses Created and Taught at UH

As the director of the Chinese Studies Program (1994-Present), I have created, developed, and/or taught the following courses.

Language courses:

  • 1501-3302: 6 courses of Modern Mandarin Chinese
  • 1309: Chinese Writing and Calligraphy
  • 2207, 2208 Chinese Conversation I & II
  • 3303: Readings in Modern Chinese
  • 3304: Business Chinese
  • 3305: Survey of Chinese Literature
  • 4301: Public Speaking in Chinese
  • 4302: Integrated Chinese

Interdisciplinary courses: Culture, literature and linguistic studies, taught in English:

  • 3350: Chinese Culture through Films
  • 3352: Chinese Culture and Society through Modern Literature (Core Course)
  • 3354: Chinese Culture and Language (Core Course)
  • 3359: Chinese Culture through History
  • 3360: A Look into Modern China (Core Course)
  • WCL 1101: Introduction to the Study of Languages (An Online Course)

Graduate courses for M.A. in World Cultures & Literatures (WCL) with a Chinese Concentration:

  • CHNS 6301: Speech & Rhetorical Studies
  • CHNS 6302: Chinese Language Teaching Practicum
  • CHNS 6352: Chinese Culture and Society through Modern Literature
  • CHNS 4364/6364: Issues in Chinese Language and Linguistics (online)
  • WCL 6370: Introduction to Second Language Acquisition
  • CHNS 6371: Teaching Chinese as a Second Language
  • CHNS 6372: Studies of Chinese Language Acquisition (Online)
  • CHNS 6373: CSL Curriculum Design & Instruction (Online)
  • CHNS 6397: Models in Second Language acquisition (Online)

Team Taught:

  • WCL 1101: Introduction to the Studies of languages (Online)
  • WCL 2351: World Cultures through Literature and Arts
  • WCL 4352: Frame of Modernity

Selected Awards, Honors, & Grants

Awards

  • 2017 — Global Faculty Award, University of Houston. The award is “in recognition of your     demonstrated excellence in the promotion of globalization at the University of Houston.
  • 2009 —Ross M. Lence Award for Teaching Excellence, CLASS, University of Houston.
  • 1994 — The Sydney B. Karofsky Teaching Prize, Bowdoin College. The award is given to one that "best demonstrates the ability to impart knowledge, inspire enthusiasm, and stimulate intellectual curiosity."

Professional Honors

  • 2018-19 — Guest Editor for the Special Issue: The Acquisition of Chinese as a First and Second Language, for Languages, An Open Access Journal by MDPI.
    https://www.mdpi.com/journal/languages/special_issues/Acquisition_Chinese
  • 2013-18 — “Excellent Review Expert”. Shijie Hanyu Jiaoxue Zazhi (Chinese Teaching in the World, a top rated and internationally distributed journal). Beijing Language and Culture University Press.
  • 2015 — Special Contribution Award for the International Chinese Language Bridge Competition (Hanyu qiao) from the Consulate General of PRC in Houston.
  • 2013 — “Outstanding Contribution Award” from the Houston Huaxia Chinese School, Houston,   TX.
  • 2011 — Contribution Award for “Ten years of service as the co-organizer and the chair of the judge committee for the Chinese Speech Contest in the Greater Houston Area”, sponsored by the Consulate General of PRC, Houston.
  • 2011 — Certificate of Appreciation for “in recognition of leadership, service, and commitment to international education through study abroad China”. Delta Iota Chapter of Phi Beta Delta, University of Houston
  • 2010 - Present — Zhuanjia (Expert), Center for International Chinese Teaching Materials Development and Teacher Training, Sun Yat-sen University.
  • 2010 — Kezuo Jiaoshou (Guest Seat Professor) Christian Chungyuan University, Taiwan.
  • 2009 — Award from the Consulate General of PRC in Houston to the Chinese Studies at UH as “the outstanding contribution to the Chinese education in the Greater Houston Area”.

Grants

  • 2017 — Research Project Grant. Project title: Motivation and learning experience across Chinese language proficiency levels”, the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. UH. ($4,000). Principal Investigator.
  • 2015 — STARTALK, a federal grant from the National Security Language Initiative via the National Foreign Language Center. Principal Investigator. ($90,000). The grant enabled UH to operate the Startalk Texas Teacher Program and train Chinese language teachers at the K-16 levels.
    http://www.uh.edu/class/mcl/chinese/startalk/
    http://www.uh.edu/uhnews/archives/2015/May%202015/StarTALK.php
  • 2014 — Faculty Developmental Leave, the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. UH.
  • 2014 — Research Outreach Grant, the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. UH. ($2,400). Principal Investigator.
  • 2013 — STARTALK, a federal grant from the National Security Language Initiative via the National Foreign Language Center. Principal Investigator. ($92,500). The grant enabled UH to operate the Startalk Texas Teacher Program and train Chinese language teachers at the K-16 levels. http://app1.kuhf.org/articles/1374166088-More-Students-Learning-Chinese,-So-More-Teachers-Learning-How-to-Teach-It.html
  • 2012 — STARTALK, a federal grant from the National Security Language Initiative via the National Foreign Language Center. Principal Investigator ($100,000). The grant enabled UH to operate the Startalk Texas Teacher Program and train Chinese language teachers at the K-16 levels.
    http://thedailycougar.com/2013/02/12/grant-received-by-scholarship-program/

Guest Presentations

  • Keynote speaker: “Motivation and learning experience across Chinese language proficiency levels” to the CLaSIC 2018 - The Eighth CLS International Conference with the theme. Singapore. Dec. 2018.
  • Plenary Speaker: “Constructing meaning through interactive activities in L2 Chinese instruction”, to the Forum on Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages. UW, Madison. April, 2017.
  • Plenary Speaker: “Teacher Training: Teachers' needs and development in the new era” to ICCSL-13(The 13th International Conference of Chinese Second Language ). Invited by Beijing Language and Cultural University and Xinjiang University. Urumqi, China. June, 2016.
  • Invited presentation “Developing pragmatic competence: Combining language and culture in learning”. The Fourth Symposium on Supervision of Research Students in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, University of Leeds, England. An invited presentation and partially funded by the conference. Aug. 2015.
  • Public guest lectures at Sun Yat-Sen University: “Selecting topics and developing research designs”, “Theories and models in second language and Chinese language acquisition”, “Chinese grammar acquisition: the BA construction” “Pragmatic development of Chinese second language learners”. “Motivation, affective factors and Chinese second language acquisition”. Guanzhou, China, Nov. & Dec. 2014.
  • Keynote Speaker: “Creating an interactive classroom” Crestar International Conference in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language”, Singapore, Nov. 2014. http://www.hanban.org/article/2014-11/18/content_562096.htm, http://sg.xinhuanet.com/2014-11/12/c_127196032.htm
  • Keynote Speaker: “Constructing Meaning through Interactive Activities: Teaching Chinese as a Constructivist Process”, CTTC Annual International Forum, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. The Melbourne Graduate School of Education. Oct. 2014 http://events.unimelb.edu.au/tags/3531-chinese-teacher-training-centre,
  • Public lecture invited by Minzu University of China: “National Standards in foreign language learning in the 21st century”. Beijing, China. Aug., 2014.
  • Public lecture invited by Beijing University: “Chinese language learning motivation”. School of Chinese as a Second Language, Peking University, Beijing, China. Aug. 1st, 2014.
  • Invited conference presentation: “Reading comprehension: Theories, strategies, & steps”. The 11th International Conference on Chinese as a Second Language. Co-sponsored and organized by Beijing Language and Culture University and Ningxia University. Plenary Chair: The first plenary session. China. July, 2014
  • Plenary Speaker: “A Study of Requests in Chinese by Learners of Different Backgrounds” The Fifth International Conference on Chinese Linguistics and Chinese Language Teaching. Columbia University, May 22-24, 2014.
  • Keynote Speaker: “Reading comprehension instruction: Focus on reading strategies” The 2nd International Conference on Teaching Chinese as a Second Language. San Francisco State University, April 24-26, 2014. http://www.sfsu.edu/~ci/events/2014/2ndinternationalconference.html
  • Plenary Speaker: “Challenges and changes confronting Chinese language teachers: Student retention” The 11rth International Conference on Chinese Language Pedagogy. Chengdu, June 2013
  • Guest Speaker: “Instructional input and learners’ output: L2 acquisition research and research based instruction” Center for Studies of Chinese as a Second Language” Beijing Language and Culture University, June, 2013. http://www.teachingchinese.net/?p=5641
  • Keynote Speaker: “Creating an interactive classroom with differentiated instruction”. Spring Conference, CLTA-California, Stanford University, March 2013. http://www.cltac.org/keynote-speakers1.html
  • Featured speaker: “An exploratory study of requests in Chinese by learners of different backgrounds”, International Symposium on Chinese Linguistics and Language Teaching on the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa campus, Honolulu, Hawaii, May 29-30, 2012. http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/prodev/si12c/presenters.html
  • Invited conference presentation: “Pragmatic development in request performance by English-speaking learners of Chinese”. The Third International Symposium of Chinese Applied Linguistics (ISCAL), Iowa City, IA. April 2012.
  • Keynote Speaker: “Research-based instruction in an interactive language classroom”. The STARTALK program invited by Kennesaw State University, GA. July 2011.
  • Keynote Speaker. "Challenges & Changes in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language” at "The 2011 Professional Development Conference for Chinese Language Teachers". University of Wisconsin-Madison. April 2011. http://www.uwplatt.edu/confucius/files/2011_chinese_language_workshop_schedule.pdf
  • Guest Speaker. “A Business Chinese Course: Curriculum design and instructional techniques” for the International Symposium of Chinese Business. University of Texas-San Antonio. April 2011.
  • Four public lectures invited by Christian Chungyuan University, Taiwan, May 2010.
    “Early research in second language acquisition: Interlanguage and error analysis”
    “Application of second language acquisition research to teaching”
    “Development of research on acquisition of Chinese as a second language”
    “Task-based instruction in Chinese teaching contexts”
    http://tcsl.office.cycu.edu.tw/post/990517-990530.pdf  
  • Guest speaker to Duke’s Forum of Chinese Language Education: “Instructional input and learner’s output”, Duke University, NC. March 2010.
  • Keynote Speaker. “Integrating culture into language: An exploratory study on the acquisition of speech acts by CFL learners”. Invited by the School of Chinese as a Second Language, Sun Yat-sen University, China, Jan. 2010. http://soee.sysu.edu.cn/xwdt/37827.htm
  • Invited presentation. “Finding Research Topics and Designing Empirical Studies on CFL”. Invited by the Board of CLTA at the ACTFL 42nd Annual Convention, Orlando, FL. (ACTFL Listing: Title: W24 CLTA Empirical Research Workshop; Date & Time:, Nov. 20, 2008. http://www.actfl.org/files/public/08PreandPostConventionWorkshops&TicketedEvents.pdf