Modesto Corderi
Dr Modesto Corderi Novoa (“Modi 莫帝”) is a language teacher of Mandarin Chinese and Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE), a teacher trainer, and a pioneering researcher in the use of Performative Language Teaching (PLT) applied to Chinese and Spanish language instruction. He lived in Beijing for nine years (2006–2015). He has delivered courses and lectures at the United Nations Headquarters in 2024, as well as at Confucius Institutes and universities worldwide.
Dr Modesto Corderi Novoa defended his PhD dissertation entitled “The impact of performative language teaching on oral skills in a Chinese as a foreign language classroom” on November 17th, 2020, at the University of the Basque Country UPV EHU. Modesto obtained the highest mark, “cum laude.” His PhD was supervised by Professor Dr María Pilar García Mayo. He obtained his B.A. with honours in Chinese Philology at Beijing Language and Culture University in China.
He also holds three masters: a Master’s in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (MTCSOL) from the Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU), where he received the Extraordinary End-of-Master’s Award and graduated first in his class; a Master’s degree in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE) from Nebrija University in Madrid; and an official Master’s degree in Teacher Training (specialising in English as a Foreign Language) from the International University of Valencia (VIU). He also earned a Bachelor’s degree in Chinese Philology from Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU), receiving an outstanding top 6 graduate award. He also holds a TESOL certificate from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
He has worked at the Instituto Cervantes in Beijing, the Spanish Embassy in Beijing, and Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), among others. He was the first and only foreigner to teach Mandarin Chinese at Tsinghua University in Beijing (ranked #1 in China). He also taught Spanish at George Washington University (GWU) in Washington, D.C., USA. Currently, he works as a tenured Chinese language professor at the Official School of Languages (EOI) in A Coruña, Xunta de Galicia, Spain.
Research Interests
Dr Corderi Novoa is a leading researcher in language drama pedagogy and an internationally recognised expert in Performative Language Teaching (PLT), with a particular focus on integrating drama into the Chinese language classroom. His work investigates innovative, theater-based methodologies in language acquisition, spanning research and instructional expertise in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (TCFL), Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE), and TESOL.
Additionally, Dr Corderi Novoa has conducted numerous teacher training workshops in different parts of the world, such as at the Confucius Institute in Geneva, Switzerland; the Confucius Institutes in Sheffield and Nottingham, UK; in Singapore; at the Confucius Institute in Lisbon, Portugal; at the Confucius Institutes in Barcelona, León, Granada, Madrid, Valencia, and Zaragoza; as well as at the Confucius Classrooms in Andalusia, Spain, and in Costa Rica. In April 2024, Dr Corderi was the first Spaniard to be invited by the United Nations HQ in New York City to present a lecture on drama pedagogy in the Chinese language classroom in celebration of International Chinese Language Day.
Furthermore, Dr Corderi has presented lectures at Princeton University, the University of Maryland, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of South Carolina in the United States; Trinity College Dublin in Ireland; the University of Teacher Education Zug in Switzerland; the University of Grenoble in France; and the University of Padua in Italy. He has also led numerous teacher training workshops in Beijing, China, and for language teachers across Galicia and Spain. In 2016, Dr Corderi was awarded first place for the “Best Teaching Activity” at the CLTA (Chinese Language Teachers Association, USA) International Conference at the University of Maryland, standing out among more than 100 international educators.
In recent years, Dr Corderi has published several articles in national and international journals, as well as various books, book chapters, and teaching materials. These resources are aimed at educators across the five continents and focus on Performative Language Teaching (PLT) applied to language learning in general, and to Chinese and Spanish in particular.
Dr Corderi is an active member of the International Drama/Theatre and Education Association (IDEA), the International Drama Education Application and Cooperation Congress (IDEAC), the Global Chinese Language Teacher Education Association (GCLTEA), the China-Spain Researchers Network (RICE), the Spanish Association of Chinese Language Teachers (AEPEC), and the National Geographic Society.
Books
Modesto Corderi. (2010) Aprende español coloquial moderno en 24 días. Pub.:Beijing Language and Culture University. ISBN: 978-7-2754-0. Abstract