Lecture by Prof. Dr. Li Chili in the 37th talk of the “Tan Lark Sye Lecture Series”
The 37th session of the Tan Lark Sye Lecture Series took place on 8th January 2025, featuring Prof. Dr. Li Chili, a Professor and Vice Dean of the School of Foreign Languages at Hubei University of Technology, as the guest speaker. Prof. Li’s lecture, titled "Developing and Validating a Scale for Measuring Pre-service Chinese as an Additional Language Teachers’ Beliefs," showcased the application of ROST-CM6, SPSS 26.0, and AMOS 24.0 in constructing and cross-validating the reliability and validity of the Pre-service CAL Teachers’ Belief Scale.
Prof. Dr. Li Chili, who holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Liverpool, is a professor at the School of Foreign Languages, Hubei University of Technology. His research interests include Applied Linguistics and Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (TCSOL). He has served as the principal investigator for over ten provincial and national research projects. His works have been published in several SSCI-indexed journals, including International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, Porta Linguarum, System, Sage Open, and others. Additionally, his recent manuscript was published by Springer Nature in 2021. Prof. Li also serves as an anonymous reviewer for approximately 20 SSCI-indexed journals, such as Applied Linguistics Review, Modern Language Journal, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, and System.
In his lecture, Prof. Li presented findings confirming that the scale demonstrates strong reliability and validity, comprising three dimensions: Chinese Teaching Belief, Chinese Language Belief, and Chinese Learners’ Belief. To further investigate, 443 pre-service CAL teachers were surveyed, revealing that their teacher beliefs were generally strong. Among these, Chinese Teaching Belief was the strongest, followed by Chinese Language Belief, while Chinese Learners’ Belief was relatively weaker. Significant differences were also observed in overall beliefs and specific dimensions among pre-service CAL teachers based on their learning stages and CAL teaching experiences.
The lecture concluded with an engaging Q&A session, during which the audience and moderator explored topics related to international Chinese language teachers, research methods, and research tools in greater detail. The session was moderated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Wang Ruixin of New Era University College.
