Miss Du Yuji and Dr Li Zhen from CHL Receive the Richard Pemberton Prize

Miss Du Yuji, a PhD candidate in the Department of Chinese Language Studies, and her supervisor Dr Zhen Li, were honoured with the prestigious Richard Pemberton Prize for Best Postgraduate Paper for their co-authored paper titled ‘The ethical dimension of cross-cultural teacher identity: A narrative inquiry of Chinese-as-a-foreign-language teachers in Italy’ at the 58th Annual Conference of the British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) held from 4 to 6 September 2025, at the University of Glasgow, UK. 

Their co-authored paper examines how Chinese language teachers in Italy's public schools negotiated and adapted their ethical beliefs in cross-cultural teaching contexts. By integrating Michel Foucault's four dimensions of ethics with the Confucian ethical framework, their paper revealed that the Chinese language teachers' core ethical values regarding good education were deeply rooted in their Confucian cultural heritage, while also showing how these ethical values were actively reshaped as they navigated the complex cross-cultural dynamics of teaching in Italy. Their research underscores the crucial role teachers play as cross-cultural ethical agents, transforming their Chinese heritage culture into dynamic cross-cultural resources that enable them to construct meaning within the cross-cultural teaching environment of Italy.

The achievement of Miss Du and Dr Li not only showcases the exceptional research in teaching Chinese as a second language flourishing at FHM but also reaffirms their commitment to advancing innovative scholarship in the broader field of intercultural education. 

 

 

 

 

The Richard Pemberton Prize

 

 

 

 

Dr Li Zhen 

 

 

 

 

Miss Du Yuji

 

 

 

 

Miss Du Yuji presenting