Yanfei Li

Yanfei Li teaches Chinese courses in the Department of East Asian Studies. She started in the field in 2010 and has brought the language and culture to various learners in universities and professional settings. Before joining the University of Toronto, she was the Coordinator of the Chinese Minor Program at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia. Her current research focuses on Chinese pedagogy, specifically experiential learning, inclusive textbook, and cultural immersion through literature, films, and history. Outside the classroom, she collaborates with non-profit organizations, such as Mulan International Film Festival and Mandarin Debate Association, to take language learning into broader communities.

Selected Presentations

“Bridging Cultures: Integrating Indigenous Languages into East Asian Language Classrooms.” Co-presented with Hyeyoon Cho and Yukiko Yoshizumi. The 28th Annual Conference of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages, Chicago, USA. April 25, 2025.

“Designing Gender-inclusive Learning Materials for Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) Classrooms.” Co-presented with Heng Wang. The 2nd Annual International Gender-Inclusive Language Instruction Conference - From Theory to Practice: Advancing Gender-Inclusive Language Pedagogy, April 5, 2024.

“What do English readers read? Translations of Sinophone Literature in Canada in the New Century.” Nanjing University, People’s Republic of China. May 29, 2023.

"Integrating Community and Experiential Learning in CFL Programs." The 20th New York International Conference on Teaching Chinese. May 7, 2022.

"Chinese L2 Classroom and Intercultural Competence." Paper presented at Panel Discussion "Hanyu L2 jiaoxue zhong de wenhua yu kuawenhua yinsu tantao: Lilun yu Shijian (Culture and Intercultural Elements in Chinese L2 Teaching: Theories and Practice)." The Chinese Teaching Group in Canada, December 18, 2021.

"Fanzhuan ketang zai wangshang hanyu jiaoxue zhong de yingyong (The Application of Flipped-Classroom in Online Chinese Language Teaching)." The 15th International Conference on Chinese Language Pedagogy, Beijing, China. June 30, 2019.

"Made in Courtyard Houses: Chineseness and International Cooperation of Heritage Making." Heritage Across Borders, the 4th Biennial Conference of the Association of Critical Heritage Studies (ACHS), Hangzhou, China. September 2, 2018.

"Using Mobile Learning Apps as Supplementary to the CFL Classroom Teaching." The 16th New York International Conference on Teaching Chinese, New York City, USA. May 5, 2018.

"The Global Roots of Chinese Urban Heritage Making." New York Conference on Asian Studies (NYCAS), Vassar College, New York, U.S.A. October 16, 2015.