Dr. Wen Xiong
WSSU STARTALK Program Director
Dr. Wen Xiong is a Professor of Chinese Studies at the Department of World Languages and Cultures of Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina, the founding director of a few Chinese programs. She earned her Ph.D. from La Trobe University in Language Education (focused on Chinese), Australia in 2007 and has extensive experience in teaching, research, and administration in a variety of academic environments for 30 years. She was a certified OPI and AAPPL tester. She is the recipient of the National Best Teacher of Teaching Chinese as a Second language (2001) and the Wilma Lassiter Master Teacher Award (2020). She also serves as Co-Director of the STARTALK Teacher Training program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Ms. Fengyan Hu
WSSU STARTALK Program Instructional Lead
Ms. Fengyan Hu is an adjunct Professor of Chinese at the University of North Carolina Greensboro and Salem Academy. She was an Assistant Professor of the Practice in Chinese in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Wake Forest University from 2008 to 2018 and was a lead teacher for Year 1 and Year 2 students, being in charge of all on-campus Chinese extracurricular activities. She is a graduate of Beijing University in Chinese Language and Literature and started teaching Chinese as a second language in Beijing in 1999. Ms. Hu has extensive teaching experience in intensive language training through her earlier years at Qinghua IUP Summer and the CET Beijing Program and has taught a diverse population of students.
Mr. Scott Plaster
WSSU STARTALK Program Coordinator
Scott Plaster is a veteran teacher, academic coach, and Scholastic Director. He is currently on the faculty at Atkins HS in Winston-Salem, NC, where he teaches Journalism, Student Publications, and Creative Writing, as well as manages the school news website and the school yearbook. As an academic coach, he leads a number of academic teams such as Chess, Cyberpatriots, CamelCoders, Poetry Out Loud, and the Quill. He was named the 2018 NCASA Coach of the Year and the 2017 NCASA Scholastic Director of the Year. He has coached three team state championships, and at least nine individual state champions, along with other top accolades (district champion in WSFCS Poet Laureate, and more). As Scholastic Director, he has led Atkins HS to its fifth NCASA Scholastic Cup victory in a row, making it the "Best School in NC."
Dr. Yiching Christine Liu
WSSU STARTALK Program Chinese Language and Culture Instructor
Dr. Yiching Liu is a visiting assistant professor of Chinese at Dickson College, PA. She earned her Ph. D. from the University of Iowa (UI) in Foreign Language and ESL Education in 2019. Focusing on Chinese and technology-enhanced language learning, she has extensive experience in incorporating technology into Chinese language classrooms at all proficiency levels. Since 2014, she has started holding online Chinese reading groups to promote extensive reading in Chinese and to develop students’ integrated language skills in a contextualized learning environment. As the instructor of the course "Technology in the Classroom" (2011-2017), she was devoted to developing K-12 preservice teachers’ knowledge in instructional technology in the College of Education at UI.
Ms. Bonnie Chunmeng Wang
WSSU STARTALK Program Chinese Language and Culture Instructor
Ms. Bonnie Chunmeng Wang teaches Upper School Chinese and coordinates the Chinese Exchange Program at Durham Academy, a PreK-12 independent school in Durham, North Carolina. She was awarded 2019 Teacher of the Year by the Foreign Language Association of North Carolina (FLANC). Wang is a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese and a professional calligrapher. She holds an M.A. in Linguistics from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. Prior to teaching at Durham Academy, she taught Chinese at UNC-Chapel Hill and Princeton in Beijing Program.
Dr. Lini Ge Polin
WSSU STARTALK Program Chinese Language and Culture Instructor
Dr. Lini Ge Polin is a Teaching Associate Professor in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She received Ed.D in Curriculum and Instruction from the School of Education at UNC-Chapel Hill, and M.A. in professional journalism and M.A. in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language from the University of Iowa. Dr. Polin has extensive experience in teaching Chinese as a second language in the U.S. She is a certified Oral Proficiency Interview tester of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). Her teaching strengths include technology-enhanced course design, task-based teaching methodologies and practices, and assessment using ACTFL proficiency standards.
Ms. Jiao Dong
WSSU STARTALK Program Chinese Culture Instructor
Mrs. Dong graduated from Capital Normal University, one of China's top education programs, with a Master's degree of Ancient Chinese Literatures in 2005. She is a Chinese teacher and Academic Director at Wen Hua Chinese School in Winston-Salem, NC. She is a certified Chinese on-line tutor. She currently holds a North Carolina teaching license in Chinese, grades K-12, and received the Distinguished teacher award (2017-2018) from the Chinese School Association in the United States. She has more than 10 years of experience teaching Mandarin to students in NC, USA and in China. She is a teacher with enthusiasm and patience.
Dr. Lijun Tang
WSSU STARTALK Program Chinese Culture Instructor
A certificated Master Instructor in Taichi with 18 years of training in Hebei Medical Rehabilitation Hospital, China, Dr. Tang has six years of experience teaching Taichi in North Carolina. Inspired by a wise saying, "When there is silence, one finds the anchor of the universe within oneself," Dr. Tang would like to continue contributing his experience to communities around Forsyth county.
