The 2026 Teaching Contest, themed “Have Fun as you Learn”, successfully concluded with enthusiastic engagement from nearly 50 students and faculty members on March 4. Organized by Dr. Jackie Yeoh, Associate Professor of English Language and Literature Studies (ELLS) - Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) programme, this contest served as a vibrant platform for students to apply their classroom learning to real-world language teaching scenarios. Following a preliminary round held in Semester 1, the final round brought together the most outstanding teams to showcase their creativity and teaching skills in a lively environment.      

Audience listening carefully to the student teachers

Dr. Jackie Yeoh with the student organising committee members - Lia Wang Xinyue and Joey Xie Zhuoying

Teaching Contest Participants and Judges Group Photo

The judging panel consisted of Mr. Lucas Rollsing, a doctoral candidate from the English Linguistics programme at PUC-RS, Brazil; Ms. Tina Feng Ting, a graduate of the TESOL programme; and Mr. Michael Yuan Xiyao, a current Year 4 TESOL student. Their diverse academic backgrounds and rich teaching experiences ensured a fair and comprehensive evaluation of the participants’ performances.

Panel judges and timekeeper – Michael Yuan Xiyao, Lucas Rollsing, Tina Feng Ting, Lorna Fang (from left to right)

During the contest, each team was allotted ten minutes to deliver a teaching demonstration, showcasing creative lessons on a variety of languages and communication contexts. Team Silent Voice started the session with a meaningful lesson on ordering drinks using American Sign Language. This was followed by Team Nova, who introduced expressions for making polite requests in Japanese convenience stores. Finally, Team Hakka-nnect demonstrated how to navigate directions in the Hakka dialect. These lessons showed the participants’ creativity in designing engaging teaching activities and their ability to make language learning interactive and enjoyable.

Audience participating in the teaching activity

Mr. Lucas Rollsing sharing words of encouragement

After the presentations, the judges carefully deliberated to select the winner. The Grand Prize was awarded to Team Nova, in recognition of their exceptional performance and innovation in teaching.

Dr. Jackie Yeoh and Mr. Lucas Rollsing with the grand prize winners

(Nancy Jiang Weinan and Xie Mingjia)

A highlight of this year’s contest was the Best Poster Award, recognizing the team whose poster design stood out for its clarity and aesthetic appeal. This special prize went to Team Nova.

Dr. Jackie Yeoh and Mr. Lucas Rollsing with the winners of best poster (Nancy Jiang Weinan and Xie Mingjia)

The success of the 2026 Teaching Contest would not have been possible without the generous financial support from the Department of Languages and Cultures within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (FHSS), which played an important role in its realization. Appreciation is also extended to the organizing team, judges, participants, and audience for their dedication and support. Special thanks go to Dr. Jackie Yeoh for organizing and coordinating the event, as well as to the student helpers who worked hard behind the scenes.

The contest once again demonstrated how language teaching can be both educational and enjoyable. Congratulations to all participants for their outstanding efforts and contributions to this memorable event.

Text: Joey Xie Zhuoying

Photography: Li Xin and Hill Xu Jiachen

Editor: Dr. Jackie Yeoh