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Biography
Dr. Lan LO is currently Associate Professor in Chinese Languages, Culture & Society in the School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies (CLAS) and Senior Fellow of Higher Education Academy. She worked as Head of the Chinese section at MLC (2017-18) in CLAS. She had innovative curriculum design, pioneering work on blended learning, co-developed the MIRACLE blended Chinese language learning design framework. She has diversified away from Chinese language instruction to encompass modules in the area of Chinese Cultural Studies e.g. Culture and Society of Contemporary China. She designed this module and led it through the validation process.
She is leading initiatives for the School primarily in the area of cultural engagement and exchange in collaboration with Lakesides Arts Centre. For example, the Talking Trees project which she devised, and coordinate is a collaboration between UoN and UoM, home and international students, and Lakesides Arts that provides cultural support for students unable to take international placements and has significant benefits for the wider community.
Her PhD research looks at migrant workers in the UK with a focus on the Chinese community. She has research and scholarship in the field of Education & Migration: she delivered papers on Chinese blended language learning; she has leadership roles on national and international research projects; she is leading research programmes and grants on China-related issues. she developed an international research profile with publications and her academic papers have been accepted and presented at national and international conferences.
She participated in an International Labor Organization (ILO) commissioned project in 2009 regarding the impact of the economic crisis on Chinese ethnic businesses and the working conditions for Chinese migrant workers in the East Midlands in the U.K. In 2011, she was involved in establishing and organizing a voluntary student network for Chinese migrants and has acted as Project Liaison Officer in a pilot project on student engagement with the Chinese Community, which was designed and led by Dr. Bin Wu, Senior Research Fellow of School of Contemporary Chinese Studies, University of Nottingham. Since 2016, she has been working as a co-researcher and lead of the Nottingham strand of a British Academy funded project on transnationalism titled "Transnational Chinese-Western couple relationships in China and the UK." She is currently acting as a Senior Training Lecturer in community support for the Nong Zhi Meng Chinese NGO in Shanghai. Outside the university, she volunteers as an interpreter for Chinese migrant workers living and working within the local community.
Expertise Summary
she is spearheading collaborations with Lakeside Arts to deliver workshops in Tai Chi open to staff, students and the wider community to develop both their fitness and mindfulness.
Teaching Summary
Currently her main teaching responsibilities are: Teaching Mandarin to Cantonese speakers and Teaching Mandarin Chinese on the undergraduate and Inter-faculty Chinese programmes. She also acts as a… read more
Research Summary
My research interests span Chinese Migration Studies and Teaching Chinese as a Second language (TCSL). My most recent publication in the area of Migration Studies was:
LO, L. (2023), Editorial: Inaugural Issue of Transnational Education Review, Transnational Education Review, 1(1), pp. 1-2. DOI:https://doi.org/10.33182/ter.v1i1.3072
LO, L & Lin, X (2023), Chinese women in transnational marriage migration in two British cities, In Z. B. Dalaman & S. Dönmez (Eds.), Women in a global world, Edition III: Empowerment and Challenges (pp.79-89). Transnational Press London. Women in a Global World, Edition III - Transnational Press London (tplondon.com)
LO, L & Pinchbeck, M (2022), Talking Trees/树说/述说：A virtual journey to the East in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, In M. Khachani, P. Yazgan & I. Sirkeci (Eds.), The Migration Conference 2022 Selected Papers (pp.51-55). Transnational Press London. The Migration Conference 2022 Selected Papers - Transnational Press London (tplondon.com)
The main focus of my work in TCSL is blended Chinese language learning, teaching Mandarin Chinese to Cantonese speakers and transitions to the year abroad. I have delivered several conference papers on both themes, most recently at the 2017 British Chinese Language Teaching Society annual at the University of Southampton. My most recent publications are:
Hughes, N.,LO, L. & Xu,S. (2019) Blended Chinese language learning design: an integrative review and synthesis of the literature, The Language Learning Journal, 47:3, 313-331, DOI: 10.1080/09571736.2017.1280526
LO, L (2016) Challenges faced by Cantonese speakers in a UK university Mandarin course in C. Stolhans et al (2016) Innovative Language Teaching and Learning at university: enhancing participation and collaboration (pp. 139-145). Dublin: Research-publishing.net
Past Research
Co-authored Book
Wu, B, LO, L (originally published as Lan Guo my maiden name) & Sheehan, J (2010), Employment Conditions of Chinese Migrant Workers in the East Midlands: A Pilot Study in a context of Economic Recession, published by International Labour Organisation
Contribution to conferences, teacher training workshops- national and international
September, 2023 (forthcoming) invited presented 'Talking Trees/树说/述说 virtual journey to the East in the time of the pandemic and post-pandemic', & 'Chinese women in transnational relationship and marriage migration in the time of pre-and post-pandemic in Nottingham and London, UK', King's College London, UK
August, 2023 （forthcoming）invited presented 'Chinese women in transnational marriage migration in two British cities, UK', University of Hamburg, Germany
June, 2023 invited presented 'Talking Trees/树说/述说 virtual journey to the East in the time of the pandemic and post-pandemic', & 'Chinese women in transnational relationship and marriage migration in the time of pre-and post-pandemic in Nottingham and London, UK'， International Conference on Education and Social Sciences, June 28-30, 2023 Taipei, Taiwan
April, 2023 invited presented 'Talking Trees: A virtual journey to the East in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic',24th annual conference of the Association of University Language Communities in the UK and Ireland Languages for All in Higher Education: Inclusion, Diversity, and Sustainability, University of Edinburgh, UK
December 2022 invited presented ' Chinese women in transnational marriage migration in two British cities, UK', 3rd International Congress of Women in a Global World (WGW2022), Istanbul, Turkey
September 2022 invited chair: Covid and Migration, and presented 'Talking Trees: A virtual journey to the East in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic', The Migration Conference 2022, Rabat, Morocco
July 2022 invited presented 'Talking Trees/树说/述说', Twenty-ninth International Conference on Learning, at Universitat de València - Facultat de Magister, Valencia, Spain
March 2022 invited presented 'Studying Chinese in University of Nottingham', UCL IOE Confucius Institute 'Schools and Universities Day', London, UK
March 2018 invited Teacher Trainer: 'Teaching Mandarin to Heritage Speakers in Western Countries', Confucius Institute of University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
January 2018 invited presented- 'Studying Chinese in Nottingham', UCL IOE Confucius Institute 'Schools and Universities Day', London, UK
June 2017- 'Addressing students' needs in preparation for Study Abroad in China: the University of Nottingham Approach', The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
July 2016- 'Challenges faced by Cantonese speakers in a UK university Mandarin course', the 14th BCLTS International Conference on Teaching and Learning Chinese in Higher Education, Newcastle University, UK
July 2016 co-organised the conference and invited chairing keynote session and presented- 'Chinese Blended Language Learning Design: An Integrative Review and Synthesis of the Literature', European Chinese Language Teaching Conference 2016, University of Nottingham, UK
January 2016- 'Needs Analysis of Teaching Chinese Language for a Year Abroad in China', International Language and Tourism Conference 2016, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
September 2015- 'MIRACLE: an instructional design approach to Chinese Blended Language Learning', poster presentation in the 'British Association for Chinese Studies (BACS) Annual Conference', University of Leeds, U.K.
July 2015- 'Preparation for a Year abroad', Tri-campus Language Teaching Conference, University of Nottingham, U.K.
June 2015- 'How can students at University of Nottingham prepare a Year abroad in China through Language Exchange Community?', the 'Living and Speaking Together' Conference - Professor Luce Irigaray', University of Nottingham, U.K.
June 2015- 'Using blended learning to prepare students for study-abroad in China', Chinese Teaching in the Western World Conference & Workshop, University of Bath, U.K.
June 2015- 'The Challenges facing the Cantonese speakers on Mandarin language learning within a mainstream university course in the UK', the 4th Annual International conference of 'Language, Literature and Linguistics', Singapore
July 2014- 'Mandarin learning for Cantonese-speaking tertiary students: an investigation in a university Mandarin course in UK', the conference of 'Third Symposium on the Supervision of Research Students in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language', Nanjing, China
June 2014-'The Role of Language and Communication for the Migrant Community Integration into Host Society: a case study on the Chinese Community in UK', the conference of 'Intercultural communication between China and the rest of the world: beyond (reverse) Essentialism and Culturalism?', University of Helsinki, Finland
June 2014- 'Mandarin learning for Cantonese-speaking tertiary students: an investigation in a university Mandarin course in UK', the conference of 'Politique et idéologies en didactique des langues : acteurs et discours / Policy and Ideology in Language Teaching and Learning : Actors and Discourses', Paris, France
June 2014- 'The role of language and communication for the migrant community integration into host society: a case study on the Chinese community in UK', the 3rd Annual International Conference on Language, Literature and Linguistics (L3 2014), Bangkok, Thailand
Grants awarded for Research and Conference
January 2018-awarded funding (£980/external) from Nottingham Confucius Institute, to lead a students' self-reflection project to address students' needs for their year abroad study in China
January 2016- awarded Inter-Campus Staff Mobility Fund (£1500/ internal), University of Nottingham, to visit Malaysia campus for my students' Year abroad in China project
January 2016- awarded Teaching Development Fund (£1200/ internal), School of Cultures, Languages, and Area Studies, University of Nottingham, to give paper in Malaysia in January 2016
September 2015- funded by School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies (CLAS)(£600/internal), University of Nottingham (UoN) to give poster presentation in the 'British Association for Chinese Studies (BACS) Annual Conference', University of Leeds, U.K.
June 2015- funded jointly by McMillians Education, Bath University and CLAS (£200 internal/£600 external), University of Nottingham, to give presentation on 'Using blended learning to prepare students for study-abroad in China' , Bath, U.K.
July 2014-awarded the 'Strategy & Steering Fund'(£900 internal), UoN to present in the conference 'the Third Symposium on the Supervision of Research Students in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language', Institute for International students, University of Nanjing, China
July 2014-awarded the 'Strategy & Steering Fund'(£200 internal), UoN to present in the 12th BCLTS International Conference on Teaching & Learning Chinese as a Foreign Language in Higher Education, Regent's University, London, UK
June 2014- awarded the 'Strategy & Steering Fund' (£500 internal), UoN to present in conference 'Intercultural communication between China and the rest of the world: beyond (reverse) Essentialism and Culturalism?' University of Helsinki, Finland
June 2014- awarded the Hanban/Confucius Institute Funding (£800 external), UoN to present in the conference of 'Politique et idéologies en didactique des langues : acteurs et discours / Policy and Ideology in Language Teaching and Learning : Actors and Discourses', Paris, France
June 2014- awarded the Hanban /Confucius Institute Funding (£600 external) to the 'HSK Examination Conference for HSK exam officers', Belfast, Northern Ireland
April and November 2014-awarded 'Intercampus Mobility Funding' of UoN for Ningbo campus visits in China. My communication on the best way of Mandarin teaching and managing cohesion during students' Year Abroad in UNNC.I designed and proposed workshops to run and set up a new space on Moodle of UoN 'Preparation for a year abroad in UNNC', and received positive feedback from the students. My former students at UK and China campuses also contributed video-feedback in this space.
2009-2010, won research funding (£1500 external) for being project liaison officer and coordinator of International Labour Organisation research, supervised by Dr. Bin Wu, School of Contemporary Chinese Studies, and University of Nottingham.