presents

LearningtoReadinLateImperialChina

Thistalkaimstoanswerthekeyques3onofhowchildrenlearnedtoreadinlateimperialChina(framedbroadlyastheSongthroughQingdynas3es,ca. 960-1911CE).Drawing on awide rangeof primary sources,Dr. Li Yuinves3gates the main pedagogical procedures (i.e. memoriza3on,vocaliza3on, punctua3on, textual explica3on, and character recogni3on)usedtotrainchildren,mainlyboysandsome3mesgirls,toacquireliteracyskills. She argues that prior to the late seventeenth century, aural-oralmemoriza3onandvocaliza3ondominatedthedescrip3veandprescrip3vediscoursesonthehistoryofreadingpedagogy.However,teachersof laterperiods discovered the importance of introducing the visual aspect ofcharacters into the reading curriculum. During the nineteenth century,eviden3al scholars and philologists further developed the pedagogicalmethod by relying on knowledge gained from the field of paleography.Modern scholars of the twen3eth century con3nue to seek inspira3onsfrom the reading pedagogy of late imperial China and some of thetechniques are well and alive even today. The talk ends with a briefdiscussion of the implica3on of this research for literacy educa3on ingeneralinanylanguage.

March21,20194:00pm-5:15pm ModernLanguagesBuildingRoom201

LiYuProfessorofChineseAsianStudiesDepartmentWilliamsCollege