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Guofang Yuan

Faculty Member

Dr. Alex Yuan

Biography

Dr. Yuan is a Professor of Chinese and serves as the Director of the Chinese Program at Utah Valley University. A native speaker of Chinese with over 30 years of teaching experience, he has dedicated his career to the instruction of Chinese language, literature, history, and culture to non-native speakers in diverse academic settings. Dr. Yuan earned his B.A. and M.A. from leading universities in China and completed his Ph.D. in the United States. His scholarly interests include second language acquisition, the pedagogy of teaching Chinese as a foreign language, classical and modern Chinese literature, Chinese history, and cultural studies. Dr. Yuan is committed to fostering cross-cultural understanding and academic excellence through innovative teaching and curriculum development.

Teaching

CHIN 3050

Advanced Chinese, Spring 2025

CHIN 315R

Advanced Chinese Conversation, Spring 2025

CHIN 4200

Business Chinese II, Spring 2025

CHIN 2000

Chinese Character Studies, Spring 2025

CHIN 4050

Chinese Language and Culture, Spring 2025

CHIN 3690

Modern China Through Film, Spring 2025

Presentations

Yang, Gloria (Chair), Yuan, Alex (Co-Author), The Western Conference of the Association for Asian Studies (WCAAS), "A Discussion on Manufacturing Surplus of China", Weber State University, Ogden . (October 11, 2025)
Yuan, Alex , Yang, Gloria (Co-Presenter), Utah Foreign Language Association , "A Discussion of the Major Errors in Compositions Made by Chinese Bridge Program Students.", Utah Tech University, St. George. (February 21, 2025)
Yuan, Alex (Chair), Flores, Roberto (Co-Presenter), 2025 The 300th Military Intelligence Brigade Language Conference, "A Discussion on China-US Relations", the 300th Military Intelligence Brigade (LING), Salt Lake City. (February 7, 2025)
Yuan, Alex , Roots of Knowledge Speaker Series, Spring 2025, "Chinese New Year and Traditional Chinese Culture and Civilization", UVU Roots of Knowledge UVU Library, Orem. (January 30, 2025)
Yuan, Alex (Chair), Yang, Gloria (Co-Author), The Western Conference of the Association for Asian Studies (WCAAS), "A Discussion on Chinese Style Modernization", Weber State University , Ogden. (October 12, 2024)
Yuan, Alex , Annual Conference of Utah Foreign Language Association , "Virtual vs Face-to-Face?--A Continuing Debating in Chinese Teaching and Learning ", University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT. ()

Scholarly/Creative Works

Yuan, Alex Guofang , (2022) "China’s Strategic Planning of Rural Areas—A Comparative study on the differentiated strategies in developing rural area in China and the U.S. " (vol. 9). Beijing Social Sciences Academic Press, Beijing, China : Jingshi Culture Review .
Yuan, Alex , (2022) " Chinese Dual Immersion and Bridge Programs in Utah" (Issue: Issue 1 (2022) , vol. Volume 5). Cleveland State University, Cleveland， Ohio: Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology (CLTMT). https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1097&context=cltmt
Yuan, Alex , (2020) "A Discussion on the Approach of Connections to Chinese Character Studies in Teaching Chinese as Foreign Language" (Issue: 1, vol. 3). Cleveland, Ohio: Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology . https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1059&context=cltmt
Yuan, Alex , (2019) "A Comparative Study on the issues Confronted in Urbanization in both America and China" . Beijing: Chinese Social Science Press .
Yuan, Alex , (2018) "Homeland Missing in the U.S." . Beijing : BNU Review .
Yuan, Alex , (2018) "The importance of to integrate Chinese culture into Chinese language teaching_ A case study " (Issue: 4, vol. 1). Cleveland, Ohio: Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology. https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/cltmt/vol1/iss4/6/

Awards

Faculty of the Year

Languages and Cultures

Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

UVU

SPOT Award

UVU

“a way to show appreciation for a specific action of achievement beyond what is normally expected of an employee.

Faculty Award of Excellence

Utah Valley University Faculty Senate