BLCUP Award for Innovative Excellence in the Teaching of Chinese as a Foreign Language
CLTA: 2025-2026 BLCUP Award for Innovative Excellence in the Teaching of Chinese as a Foreign Language
(Deadline: November 30, 2025)
Established with the generous support of Beijing Language and Culture University Press, this award is designed to encourage CLTA members to contribute to the improvement of Chinese Foreign Language (CFL) education in the United States through the design, development, and application of new pedagogy, innovative classroom practices, and teaching tools (e.g. multi-media).
Award and Eligibility
The fund has designated an annual amount of $1,500 to be divided between at least two recipients each year. Depending on the competition each year, the award money may be divided into two First Prizes or one First Prize and one to two Second Prizes. With the exception of the current members of the CLTA Awards Committee, all K-16 teaching professionals with active CLTA member status are eligible to apply.
Materials
Any unpublished innovative projects with the goal of improving CFL education are welcome for submission. While commercial products and most materials already accepted for publication are excluded from competition, a recently published article (within twelve months of submission deadline) on innovative pedagogy would be eligible for consideration. To qualify for the competition, a project should have been completed upon submission and be relatively comprehensive in scope. Projects covering an entire course or course unit will be considered, whereas projects covering only one class period (unless one class period constitutes a unit) will not.
Selection Criteria
Criteria for award selection primarily consist of the following:
- Rationale of Project. What is the need for the project and in what way would the current project make teaching more effective?
- Innovation of design. How does the project differ from current practices in the field?
- Outcome of Project. What is the evidence as to the effectiveness of the project (for example, expert endorsement, positive student reactions, or pre-and post-test performance gain)?
Application
To apply, please prepare and submit the following information:
- A narrative description of the project, double-spaced and no more than five pages, including its rationale, design, outcome, and future development, if any. Please don’t include any identifying information in the description.
- Relevant supporting documents, such as handouts, videos, or texts. Electronic documents will be preferred. Please make sure to remove any identifiable personal information from your documents.
- The completed award application form
Submit the above documents to the CLTA Award Committee at cltaaward@gmail.com, with the subject line of “2025 BLCUP Teaching Award Application” by November 30th, 2025. Winners will receive the Awards at the 2026 CLTA Conference Awards Ceremony. The winning projects will also be announced in the CLTA Newsletter, as well as featured on the websites of CLTA.
Award Recipients
2021-22
First prize: Jingjing Ji (Northwestern University)
“DEI in Chinese Heritage Language Instruction: Use the AAPI Unit as an Example”
Second prize: Han Luo (Lafayette College)
“Intercultural Learning through Chinese-American Telecollaboration: Results of a Song Sharing Project”
Third prize: Lu Lu (Virginia Military Institute)
“Develop students’ leadership competencies in Chinese language courses”
2022-23
First prize: Lini Ge Polin 葛黎妮 (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)， Li Yang 杨黎 （Kansas State University）
“Fostering Learner Autonomy and Oral Proficiency Development in CFL Classrooms: Using Guided Self-Assessment and Skits Practice on VoiceThread”
Second prize: Nini Li (University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa)
“Input Processing and the Design of Consciousness Raising Tasks: Structured Input Versus Consciousness Raising Input”
2023-24
1st Prize: Yingling Bao, Indiana University & Yufen Chang, University of Minnesota Twin Cities
2nd Prize: Wenjing Huang, George School
3rd Prize: Yongfang Zhang, Wofford College
2024-25
1st Prize: Luoyi Cai (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) & Ziyi Geng (Wake Forest University): “Exploring Cultural Diversity via Cross-institutional Collaboration”
2nd Prize: Wen-Hua Du (Worcester Polytechnic Institute): “Breaking the Silence: Mental Health Issues Among Chinese Communities through Project-Based Language Learning”
3rd Prize: Qingyu Yang & Jianping Cai (University of Rhode Island) “Empowering Students in Chinese Language Learning through Well-being and Project-Based Language Learning Integration”
2025-26
1st Prize: Bin He (Harvard-Westlake School): “Bridging China and the World: Classical Chinese Literature as a Framework for Global Citizenship”
2nd Prize: Pengfei Li (Vanderbilt University) “Exploring Heritage Narratives through a Multidimensional Language Project”
3rd Prize: Qiang Zhang (University of Pennsylvania): “ Learning by Creating: A Student-Centered Drama Project for Advanced Chinese Language Learners”