Mandarin Debate in Chinese Learning and Cross-Cultural Communication

LAI, Changsheng (changshenglai@sjtu.edu.cn) 

Changsheng Lai is a tenure-track assistant professor in the philosophy department at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He received his PhD degree at the University of Edinburgh (supervised by Prof. Duncan Pritchard and Dr. Martin Smith). His major research interests focus on epistemology, including epistemic gradualism (a view that propositional knowledge is gradable), scepticism, epistemological disjunctivism, anti-luck epistemology, and virtue epistemology. Besides, he has more than 9 years of experience in Mandarin debate. He was the coach and a debater of the Mandarin Debating Team of University of Edinburgh and the MVP of the 8th World Mandarin Debate Championship. 

Research Overview 

As a helpful method for enhancing students’ competence in critical thinking, public speech, and discussion of public issues, competitive debate has long been recognized as an important component of higher education. In China, Mandarin debate is popular with not only local students, but also amateurs from non-Chinese speaking countries. This talk will give a brief sketch of the history of Mandarin debate and how its influence was extended globally. I will analyse the role that Mandarin debate plays in Chinese learning and cross-cultural communication basing on its remarkably successful practices in Chinese Debate World Cup, Confucius Institute, and ‘Chinese Bridge’ Competition.