Jinai Sun joins North Central’s language faculty in fall 2014

North Central College welcomed Assistant Professor of Chinese Jinai Sun, a newly appointed full-time, tenure-track faculty member for the 2014-2015 academic year, which started Sept. 15.

Her areas of research interest focus on implementation of Chinese as a foreign language and the enhancement of Chinese language capacity in American schools. Her studies also target curriculum and instruction as well as effective delivery and communication in higher education classrooms.

Sun has more than 10 years of experience in Chinese language education and teacher development in the United States. Since 2011, she has held a visiting teaching position in Chinese at North Central College. As administrator and teacher in the College’s Chinese program, she helped expand the program from a minor to a major area of study. Sun also has served as program director for the highly competitive STARTALK Chinese Immersion program, which attracted 79 area high school students to campus to study Chinese language and culture the past two summers.

Sun earned a B.A. in English literature and linguistics from Harbin Normal University and an M.Ed. and Ph.D. in educational administration from The Pennsylvania State University.