Dr Qian Kan

Professional biography

My name in Chinese is 阚茜. For my publications wherever possible, my name is displayed in the Chinese order: Kan Qian as Chinese family names come first.

I am Senior Lecturer in Chinese in the School of Languages and Applied Linguistics at The Open University. I am also Director of the Online Confucius Institute at The Open University. I was accredited as Senior Fellow of The Higher Education Academy (UK) in 2015.

Before joining OU, I was Senior Language Teaching officer in the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Cambridge. Prior to that, I lectured in Chinese Studies at Lancaster University. Between 1992 and 1993, I worked for the BBC World Service as translator and presenter. I am Bye-Fellow at Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge. 

My Wordpress page is: https://kanqian.wordpress.com/

Research interests

My main research interest is technology-enhanced language learning at a distance, mainly the use of online forums in assisting the learning of Chinese language, the use of reflective forums for intercultural learning, tandem learning, mobile language learning and building online communities by peer mentoring. I also supervise Doctoral in Education (EdD) and PhD students.

Teaching interests

I have been teaching Chinese as a foreign language for over 30 years. 

I have published numerous learning materials including: Colloquial Chinese (3rd ed 2021), Colloquial Chinese 2 (Routledge 2007), GCSE Chinese Writing Revision Guide (Sinolingua, 2018), Developing Writing Skills in Chinese (Routledge 2013, co-author with Boping Yuan), Teach Yourself Phone Mandarin (Hodder & Stoughton, 2008), Mandarin Chinese Phrase Book (BBC Active, 2007).

Impact and engagement

Developed OU's Chinese Character learning apps 'Chinese@OU' (for both iOS and Android) and 'Chinese Characters First Steps' App (Android). 

External collaborations

MOVE-ME: MOOCs for University Students on the Move in Europe

This is an EU Funded 2-year Erasmus+ Project (total grant: €296,831) with six partner institutions. Università per Stranieri di Siena (Italy) leads the project. The other 5 partners are: The Open Unviersity (UK), Federazione Nazionale Insegnanti Centro di iniziativa per l’Europa (Italy); National University of Ireland, Galway (Ireland), Computer Technology Institute & Press Diophantus (Greece) and Nstitutul De S tiinte Ale Educatiei (Romamia).

The main objective of the project is to facilitate the integration of students in academic mobility enhancing their ability to function in academic and specialized contexts and developing their ability of learning to learn. The MOVE-ME project will create a learning path specifically designed for students in mobility programmes, supporting learners in the acquisition of the competences and skills necessary for understanding academic texts, written and oral, relating to specific disciplines, developing the ability to understand and produce academic writing of various genres.

The project ended in January 2018 with the following outputs which the OU team was resposible for:

- ‘English for Academic Purposes: A MOVEME Project Course’ MOOC on FutureLearn with three runs https://www.futurelearn.com/admin/courses/english-for-academic-purposes/3

-  All the resources for the above EAP MOOC are on the project website for open access: http://movemeproject.eu/en/lang_tax/english/

- ‘Guideline for the Evaluation of the Language MOOCs’: http://movemeproject.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/IO13_English-version.pdf

Investigating into strategies used when learning Chinese characters with mobile apps

Previous research has established some common strategies used when learning characters with pen-and-paper. The current study is to investigate if different/new strategies are used when learning characters with mobile apps.