Norris Chen

My name is Yi (Norris) Chen. As a native of Taiwan, a democratic island known for bubble milk tea and night markets, I started to step into the field of teaching Chinese as a Second Language (TCSL) in 2013 as a graduate at National Cheng-chi University (NCCU) in Taipei. During the academic year of 2016-17, I went to Western Kentucky University in the United States to teach Chinese as a Foreign Language Teaching Assistant of Fulbright. After obtaining my M.A. in TCSL at NCCU in 2018, I headed for Thailand to teach local Chinese heritage students at Jian-Hua Comprehensive High School (2018-19). With a strong interest in instructional design for heritage Chinese, I taught non-heritage as well as heritage Chinese courses as visiting lecturer at the Chinese Language Program in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada (2021-23). My teaching experience is not confined to Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL), as I also taught Chinese at Feng Chia University in Taichung, Taiwan (2017-18 & 2019-21). 

Before joining Davidson College in 2025, I worked as a full-time Project Assistant/Mandarin teacher in the U.S. Chinese Flagship Overseas Capstone Program at NCCU in Taiwan (2023-25). In addition to designing and teaching Chinese language courses at all levels, I have extensive experience in coordinating a teaching team, training teaching assistants to enhance their professional development, and holding teacher-training workshops.