On April 14th, 2016, a delegation from the University of Leeds visited GDUFS to celebrate the 10th anniversary of cooperation between Leeds and GDUFS, and to discuss the development of future cooperation. President ZHONG Weihe received the guests in the VIP Hall of the Administration Building.

Attendees from Leeds were: Sir Alan Langlands, Vice-Chancellor of Leeds; Jacqui Brown, Head of the International Office; Martin Wedell, Professor of Leeds; Judith Hanks, Professor of Leeds, and Richard Badger, Professor of Leeds. GDUFS attendees were: Professor CAI Hong, Director of the International Office; Professor WEN Binli, Dean of the Faculty of English Language and Culture, and YI Zongyong, Deputy Director of the International Office.

President ZHONG firstly summarised the existing cooperation between the two universities, including the flagship project of cooperation: the Master’s programme in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MA TESOL). He recognized the significant role that the programme plays in enabling students to broaden their international horizons. In addition, he gave a brief introduction of GDUFS and expressed the hope that GDUFS will strengthen its future cooperation with the University of Leeds. He also expressed his sincere wish to visit Leeds.

 

 

President ZHONG talking with Sir Alan

Sir Alan felt honoured to be invited by GDUFS and appreciated the efforts that GDUFS has made in strengthening the cooperation between the two universities.

On next day morning, the ceremony of GDUFS – University of Leeds 10th Anniversary of the MA TESOL Programme was held in the International Conference Hall of the Administration Building. Among the attendees were President ZHONG; Sir Alan Langlands; CHEN Linhan, Vice President of GDUFS; WEN Binli and other delegates from the University of Leeds, as well as all the recent graduates.

Opening the ceremony, President ZHONG extended his warm welcome to all the guests and conveyed his heartfelt thanks to the contributors of the MA TESOL Programme, including Dr. Martin Wedell, and the founder of the programme, Professor ZOU Qiming. He also said that the programme has attained outstanding achievements, and even has deeply influenced various well-developed cities such as Guangzhou, Shanghai and Tianjing – thanks to the abundant resources and excellent teaching experiences from both of the two partner institutions. Again, he sincerely expressed his wish to continue the collaboration with Leeds in the following years and congratulated all the fresh graduates.

 

 

President ZHONG delivering a speech

Sir Alan Langlands emphasized that implementing the programme is of vital significance, because it not only promotes teaching methods by meeting the specific contextual needs of the students, but also helps them inspire their beloved students’ minds, which is another reason for the success of the programme. Additionally, he mentioned that, as the world is becoming smaller, it’s essential to learn problems-solving skills to enable everyone to make a difference to the world. Therefore, an international language used to contact without obstacles is necessary. At last, he showed his gratitude to the programme’s supporters and all the outstanding students.

Sir Alan delivering a speech

During the ceremony, both Dean WEN Binli and Dr. Wedell highlighted that remarkable contributions can be seen from the 10 years’ cooperation between the two universities. Apart from the leaders from the two institutions, the distinction graduates XIE Jianmei and RUAN Ye were invited to give a speech to share their experience and feelings during the programme. What’s more, TIAN Xingbin, Dean of Tongren University, on behalf his own university, expressed his appreciation for the programme, as it has left a deep influence on teachers and students.

Dr. Wedell delivering a speech

Distinction graduate XIE Jianmei delivering a speech

At the end of the ceremony, Sir Alan awarded the graduation certifications to all graduates and a moment full of joy was captured in a group photo. Sir Alan awarding certifications to the graduates

A group photo

Later in the afternoon, after the buffet lunch, the Leeds members had a meeting with student representatives from the 10th cohort at a round table in the Easeland Hotel. Together they explored the potential of future development of the programme. Up to now, the programme is of high quality for providing unique teaching modules, making it stand out among other programmes in China of the same kind, yet there’s no reason not to consider the potential for future development of the partnership. They discussed about the possibility of adapting modern media to the courses and developing an EdD (Doctorate in Education) programme. The students also suggested that the online resources that the programme provided should be accessible over a longer term, not just during the period when they are involved.

The last schedule was the meeting with all graduate at Yunzhan Cafe hosted by ZHAO Guanyin and WANG Yunfeng. Both the Leeds staff and graduates had a relaxing time talking, laughing and taking photos.

Relaxing conversations during the last meeting