Name:Tony Little

Position:Senior Lecturer, English Language Center

Email: tonylittle@suda.edu.cn

Telephone:+86 (0)512 65883549

Qualifications

MSc Epidemiology - University of Edinburgh, UK (Current student)

MA Healthcare Ethics and Law (Distinction) - University of Manchester, UK

MSc Infectious Diseases (Distinction) - London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK

BSc Genetics and Biochemistry (FirstClass) - University of Wales, UK

Biography

I have been living and working in Asia since 2002 (The best part of my adult life). I taught academic English for about 13 years in South Korea, with short stints volunteering in various places across Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. I then moved to Oman for a year before establishing myself in China in 2016.

My academic background and general interest are heavily based in the sciences; if anything, I see myself as a scientist, not a linguist, however, my professional experiences have focused on teaching English for academic purposes. Before working at CNST, I taught English for Business and Accounting purposes at an International Business School in Dalian, Liaoning Province, before arriving here at CNST in September 2018. Since then, I have channelled my energies into curriculum development, student mentoring and lecturing on the various English programmes (both postgraduate and undergraduate) within CNST's English Language Center.

The unique position of the ELC, with specific remits to serve the needs of CNST and its scientists, provided the opportunity to combine my love for science with my professional background. I have taken this opportunity to develop English courses specifically tailored to the needs of our science cohort. Accordingly, my teaching focuses on fostering students' skill sets; teaching students the skills they need to flourish as young scientists. I prioritize a task-based learning approach that requires applying Bloom's higher-order thinking skills (analysis, evaluation, application) to thrive, thereby providing students with the capacity to compete in China's highly competitive environment.

Beyond the discipline of Teaching for Science, having spent the last 20 years living and working in Confucian-dominated cultures, I have become fascinated with how culture influences the teaching and learning environment. Moreover, what started as a professional interest in the influence of culture on learning English has become a central theme of my overriding approach to teaching and learning.

Research Interests

- The influence of Confucianism on the teaching and learning of English.

- The importance of the civic-friendship in the teacher-student relationship, specifically, how the development of the civic-friendship can help improve student performance.

- The Universalism-Relativism debate as applied to issues of public health.

- Medical anthropology, specifically bio-social influences on the spread and control of infectious diseases, especially malaria and African trypanosomiasis.

Address

College of Nano-Science and Technology

Soochow University, Dushu-Lake Campus

199 Ren’ai Road, Suzhou Industrial Park

Suzhou, Jiangsu Province

215123, P.R. China