22nd Annual Chinese Teaching Conference – Q&A with Ellen Yilmaz

Our 22nd Annual Chinese Teaching Conference ‘Evolving Classrooms – Adapting Methods of Mandarin Teaching to Keep Pace with Changing Contexts’ is coming up on 11th October 2025.

In this year’s programme you’ll find plenaries, speeches, performances as well as workshops covering a wide range of topics. In the run up to the conference, we are interviewing some of the workshop presenters to get a better idea of what can be expected at the conference.

Ellen Yilmaz has over 15 years of Chinese teaching experience in the UK. After completing her MA and MSc degree in the UK, Ellen took her PGCE and has built up her teaching expertise by setting up and growing Chinese learning in several UK comprehensive and private schools. She also led the GCSE class for more than five years at Bath Chinese School before moving to Cheltenham. Ellen has worked for Bath Spa University, teaching University students and lecturers Mandarin for Beginners, as well as assisting as part of the candidate selection panel for PGCE students. She also took part in Bath Spa University Aspiration Day teaching Mandarin to local secondary schools. In addition to her teaching roles, Ellen is an experienced examiner of Chinese, having worked for CIE, AQA and Edexcel for ten years. Her workshop is on ‘Maximising engagement and retention in Mandarin through Cognitive Load Theory’.

Can you tell us a bit about your workshop content?

I aim to demonstrate to Mandarin teachers how to apply Cognitive Load Theory to create more effective and accessible lessons. Participants will explore how memory works and discover strategies to maximize essential cognitive load while minimizing extraneous load, resulting in lessons that are both engaging and impactful.

What style of workshop are you planning to deliver?

I plan to deliver an interactive workshop where I will explore research-based methods and share my own classroom experiences. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in group discussions, which I will review and provide feedback on, sharing my thoughts and insights. The session is designed to be hands-on and collaborative.

What made you choose this subject for this year’s conference?

In evolving Mandarin classrooms, Cognitive Load Theory remains essential because learning Mandarin inherently has high intrinsic load—characters, tones, and grammar are complex. Modern methods like multimedia, apps, and online platforms can add extraneous load, risking student overload. Applying CLT helps teachers sequence lessons, chunk vocabulary, and design clear, focused activities, enabling students to efficiently acquire language skills while managing working memory limits, even in technology-rich, adaptive learning environments.

What will attendees take away from your workshop?

Participants will learn how to carefully plan lessons and deliver them effectively, applying strategies to maximize student learning. They will gain techniques to manage intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load and help students build schemas, so new Mandarin knowledge is efficiently processed and stored in long-term memory, making lessons more engaging, effective, and lasting.

Many thanks Ellen! 

We look forward to welcoming ticketholders to Ellen’s workshop on Saturday 11th October 2025 at the IOE. Book your conference tickets here.