Front cover design of the book,
with the help of Alisa Mengying Fan

This exhibition presents the original drawings of the illustration Zhang Ming-ing (Ming-ming Cheung) created for Speaking Out: Issues and Controversies, An Advanced Chinese Reader.

Speaking Out is a Chinese language textbook developed by Professor Hsiao-wei Rupprecht at the University of Toronto and her collaborators in other North American universities. It draws inspiration from a variety of social and cultural phenomena particular to contemporary China, such as Singles’ Day, changes to the Spring Festival celebration, and the WeChat economy. The lessons are grouped by theme to offer multiple perspectives on related topics and to engage students in critical thinking and open discussion. Speaking Out emphasizes speaking skills, which distinguishes it from competing titles. While other textbooks mainly describe cultural facts and phenomena, this textbook teaches students how to present convincing oral arguments and engage debate opponents.

Zhang Ming-ming has created all the illustrations in Speaking Out. Her drawings vividly visualize the stories and characters in the book. Her memorable caricatures add comic relief to the book’s more serious topics. Pedagogically, the drawings can be used to initiate discussions in warm-up activities, to contextualize the ideas in the chapters, and to assess students’ understandings of the topics. On display in this exhibition are forty original drawings from Speaking Out.

With Zhang Ming-ming’s illustrations and carefully designed topics and exercises, Speaking Out has proven effective in classrooms in North America. It has been used as a primary fourth-year Chinese textbook twice at Yale University and seven times at the University of Toronto. Included in this exhibition are also the assginments by the students who were using Speak Out in EAS402H Modern Standard Chinese IVb.

This online exhibition is an extension of the physical exhibition of the same name, held at the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library, University of Toronto, from September to December 2023. While preserving the essence of the original display, this digital version includes all the original drawings that could not be shown in the physical space. Additionally, it features an expanded selection of student essays and opinion pieces, offering a broader perspective on the exhibition’s themes.

本次展览展出张明明为《各抒己见:汉语高级读本》创作的插画原稿。

《各抒己见》是由多伦多大学的王晓薇教授与北美多所大学的中文教师联合开发的中文教材。该书聚焦诸如光棍节、微信、春节庆祝方式变迁等各类当代中国社会文化现象。全书按主题划分单元，为学习者提供思考相关议题的不同角度，并鼓励学生进行批判性思考和开放式讨论。 与同类教材相比，《各抒己见》特别强调口语表达技巧。很多同类教科书倾向于描述文化事实与现象，而《各抒己见》注重培养学生自己构思、组织论点，参与辩论，并增强说服力的能力。

张明明为《各抒己见》创作了全部插画。她的绘画生动地展现了书中的故事与人物。漫画的形式也为书中严肃的主题增添了幽默和趣味。从教学角度来看，这些插画可用于热身活动中引导讨论，也可将章节中的观点具体化，从而帮助学生加深对话题的理解。本次展览收录了《各抒己见》中的40幅原画。

插画与书中精心设计的话题与练习，使《各抒己见》在北美的中文课堂上收获了出色的教学成果。该书曾两次被耶鲁大学用作四年级中文教材，并连续七年在多伦多大学的四年级中文课上使用。本次展览还收录了使用《各抒己见》作为教材的四年级汉语学生的作业。

本次线上展览是2023年9月至12月在多伦多大学郑裕彤东亚图书馆举办的同名实体展览的延伸。在保留原展核心内容的基础上，线上版本收录了实体展览中未能展示的全部原画。此外，还扩展收录了更多学生评论与文章，为展览主题提供了更广泛的视角。