Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning of Chinese as a Foreign Language

Amber Navarre

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781317282334
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning of Chinese as a Foreign Language provides new and experienced teachers of Chinese with a timely review and evaluation of the use of technology in the language classroom.

The book draws from Second Language Acquisition theories and empirical studies to demonstrate the use of technologies in facilitating language learning. With a strong practical and pedagogical focus, this is an ideal resource for current and prospective teachers of Chinese as a Foreign Language.

Key features include:

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• Demonstration and analysis of technologies in use

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• Principles and methods to evaluate instructional technologies

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• Summary tables presenting the key functions of each technology tool

Online resources include up-to-date information on new technologies and tools to address the ever-changing nature of the topic.

1The drives

What is behind our decisions regarding instructional technology?

In this century, teaching without using any technology has become almost literally impossible. From using overhead projectors to present slides, to posting student grades on the course management system, to answering students’ questions via email, to adopting online textbooks and other materials, to having students look up information on search engines, to incorporating social media and building a learning community, to delegating some learning activities to the online environment or offering the whole course online, this list goes on and expands day by day. Every school, every class, every teacher, and every student are expected to use technology to varying degrees. As stated in the most recent National Education Technology Plan by the U.S. Department of Education (2016), “the conversation has shifted from whether technology should be used in learning to how it can improve learning to ensure that all students have access to high-quality educational experiences” (p. 5).

How to use technology to improve learning experiences in a Chinese language classroom is exactly the focus of this book. But before we get into the practical planning, selection, and use of technology, let’s take a minute to think about why we want to incorporate technology in our teaching. As the social critic Paul Goodman (1970) wrote in reaction to the quickly emerging technology half a century ago, “whether or not it draws on new scientific research, technology is a branch of moral philosophy, not of science” (p. 40). Whether technology itself is a branch of moral philosophy or science is open to further discussion among scholars, but it is nevertheless true that the way we choose to incorporate technology into our teaching is driven by our philosophy of technology. Just like how our teaching philosophy governs what we decide to teach and how we teach it, our beliefs, attitudes, motivations, and knowledge in regard to the relationship between technology and education construe the answer as to how we use technology in our teaching.

Why do we use technology? There are many good reasons to do so according to thousands of studies. For instance:

Technology increases the accessibility of learning materials and expands learning experiences

Technology increases learners’ access to foreign language education in many ways.

For those who take face-to-face language courses in schools, the Internet allows them exposure to authentic target language materials through webpages, blogs, forums, streamed videos, and social media. Teachers who teach less commonly taught languages may find such online resources particularly helpful because the authentic materials are otherwise hard to find.

Sometimes schools might not be able to offer face-to-face courses of certain languages to interested students due to low enrollment or difficulty in finding certified teachers, especially in the cases of less commonly taught languages and more rural districts. These interested learners may now access such courses through virtual classrooms. In the case of Chinese, online courses are often offered by individual universities at the level of higher education, while K-12 courses are often offered by virtual classroom services in collaboration with educational organizations who have expertise in language education. For instance, Michigan Virtual School collaborates with the Confucius Institute at Michigan State University (CI-MSU); K12.com, the biggest education management organization (EMO) in the United States, offers their Chinese courses through Middlebury College’s Interactive Languages.

In addition to increased access to learning materials and resources, students who enroll in a face-to-face program may also expand their learning experience beyond the classroom with the help of technology. Teachers may assign students to conduct research by finding information online about the target culture or have them do group projects via virtual collaboration. Some schools have virtual dual language programs or less formal exchanges (e.g., a shared blog, key-pal partnership, or periodical virtual conferences) with students from a collaborative foreign institute. In a flipped classroom, which we will discuss further in Chapter 6, instruction is frequently digitally recorded and viewed by learners at home. All these learning experiences beyond the classroom increase the contact hours with the target language, which is recognized as crucial for learning a foreign language, especially Category IV languages,¹ including Chinese.

Technology helps to tailor learning experiences to individual learners’ needs

Technology can make it easier for teachers to design learning experiences that appeal to learners’ different proficiency levels, learning styles, and emotional or social needs. For instance, using multimedia materials allows learners to have both visual and audio input at the same time; having course content available online allows learners to (re)learn the lesson at their own pace; doing multimedia projects such as digital storytelling or film/animation production encourages learners to use the target language meaningfully, collaboratively, and creatively.

Many studies have pointed out that communication in a second language in an e-learning environment is less stressful or threatening to learners than face-to-face settings (e.g., Chun, 1998; Casanave, 2004; Rubesch & McNeil, 2010; Huang & Hwang, 2013).

Technology enables quick feedback and more variety when assessing learners’ performance

Compared to paper-based assessments, technology-assisted assessments have been found to be more efficient by reducing the time, resources, and disruption to learning (Gohl, Gohl, & Wolf, 2009). One major advantage of using technology to assess learning is that it enables quick feedback, which is particularly useful in the case of formative assessments. With the current polling/quizzing tools, teachers may embed assessment questions within the lesson, conduct comprehension checks in an undisruptive manner, receive immediate feedback, and quickly adjust their lesson plan to address the content students struggle with. Individual learners may also receive immediate feedback and know where they stand in the learning process. With their progress being transparent to the learners, they may take more autonomy and decide their next step of learning. In other words, the teacher and the learners jointly shape the learning experience and fine-tune it constantly based on the quick feedback gained through technology.

Furthermore, in a language classroom, assessment should not be and has never been limited to paper tests and quick quizzing/polling. Technology may also help provide variety while assessing a wide array of communication in different modes and with different tasks. For instance, authentic multimedia materials may be used to assess listening and reading comprehension; audio/video recording may be used to assess interpersonal and presentational modes of speaking; a real-life problem-solving project may be used for an integrated assessment that involves multiple language skills, cultural knowledge, and communication modes, such as finding and presenting the most appropriate lodging arrangement when traveling in China by comparing options online. Technology did not invent such assessment methods but has enabled a wider variety of tasks learners may undertake to demonstrate learning.

Technology facilitates collaboration and formation of learner communities

Technology helps facilitate collaboration in many ways. First of all, for learners, technology helps transcend the limitation of time and space, allowing them to collaborate on projects beyond school hours and settings. Learners may work together outside of the classroom synchronously using video-conferencing tools (e.g., Skype, Google Hangout, or Zoom) and real-time editing applications (e.g., Google Docs or Microsoft Word Online), or asynchronously via email or text messaging.

Many teachers host course blogs, micro-blogs (e.g., Twitter or Weibo), wikis, or social media groups to share course content, events, resources, thoughts, and opinions with students, parents, and even local and global communities. For instance, some study abroad programs ask students to keep a reflection journal on their blogs about their experiences. These blogs are not only the platform for learners to reflect on their intercultural learning, but also serve as the site for parents to witness or actively participate in their learning by viewing and commenting (Kelm, 2011; Lee, 2011; Jin, 2012).

While it is not required for learners to share their video or audio projects publicly, many choose to do so and broadcast their projects to a general audience and reach out to the global community. For instance, a keyword search of “Chinese student project” on YouTube would generate thousands of results.

Teachers may also take advantage of collaborative technology among themselves to share resources and lesson plans, ask questions, provide support, and work on cross-institute or interdisciplinary projects together (Lord & Lomicka, 2004; Arnold, Ducate, Lomicka, & Lord, 2005; Arnold & Ducate, 2006). Such virtual collaboration may be even more important for teachers who are the only teacher of the subject in their school or school district, which is a common situation for Chinese teachers. Over the Internet, these teachers may communicate, share, and work with one another remotely via virtual collaboration.

Technology encourages self-learning and lifelong learning

One ultimate goal of education is to cultivate lifelong learners who would continue to learn: to acquire resources, think critically, and use the learned knowledge and skills to solve real-life problems beyond formal school settings. Demand for knowledge workers, who are educated and able to continuously update their knowledge, presents the driving force for educational policy makers and institutions to transform the current education system to one that cultivates such lifelong learners (Evers, Rush, & Berdrow, 1998; Rowley, Lujan, & Dolence, 1998). A key to continuous lifelong learning lies in the dynamic large-scale online communities that provide indefinite learning resources and attract active users/contributors worldwide (Thomas & Brown, 2011), which is what our education should prepare and guide young learners to explore. Information or technology literacy is included in most lists that aim to define the twenty-first-century skills for learners at both national (e.g., Framework for 21st Century Learning; Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills; Common Core State Standards) and local levels (e.g., Iowa Essential Concepts and Skills; Connecticut’s Common Core of Learning; Illinois Learning Standards).

The cultivation of lifelong learners is crucial for language learning, arguably more than other subjects, since the mastery of the subject may not be achieved without immersing oneself in authentic language environments outside of the classroom. Given the required hours for learning a foreign language, especially a Category IV language such as Chinese, the pursuit of mastery may last well beyond the learner’s school years. Therefore, an important mission for us teachers is to prepare our learners with the skills and attitudes ready for lifelong learning when they are out of our classes.

Lifelong learning requires both autonomy and collaboration, and technology may help prepare learners for both. On the one hand, technology increases the accessibility to learning materials and expands learning experiences beyond the classroom. With mobile devices in the picture, the language learning experience could be literally seamless and ubiquitous. Learners may watch a video, listen to lesson recordings, use flashcards, or even practice writing on their phone or tablets anywhere, anytime. When they encounter a problem, instead of waiting to ask the teacher the next day in school, they may look it up online, or post their questions and get answers from a virtual community. Such learning is by nature self-purposed, self-directed, and self-paced. Guiding learners to use such resources in a language class may help develop the mindset and familiarize them with the methods for such independent learning.

On the other hand, language classes may also help to cultivate lifelong learners through promoting virtual communication and collaboration so that learners may participate in the larger community of the target language and culture and continue with their learning. Analyzing the language use on authentic websites, blogs, and forums may help learners learn to evaluate the text in its social context and develop critical thinking skills. On the social level, having students communicate in a controlled social platform, such as a closed Facebook group or a private course blog, would allow them to practice developing a virtual identity and using appropriate language and/or netiquette (Internet etiquette) while interacting with others in a relatively safe online environment with the teacher’s guidance and monitoring.

While the reasons mentioned above are great ones to incorporate technology in our teaching, the benefits of using technology are not the only reasons teachers use it. In addition to these benefits technology brings to learning, which pull many teachers to use technology in their classes, there are also pushing forces for teachers to abandon traditional non-technology teaching, one of which is the pressure coming from the general climate or the teacher’s immediate environment.

In general, the importance of technology is often stressed in education policies and made relevant to the social changes and economic growth at national and international level. For instance, acknowledging that “societal and economic potential can come from harnessing technological innovation in higher education,” Androulla Vassiliou, the then European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, urged that “it is imperative that Europe takes the lead in this area” (European Commission, 2014, p. 4) in the report to the European Commission on new modes of learning and teaching in higher education. It is also predicted in the report that by 2024, e-learning may grow fifteen-fold in Europe and “with the promise, or threat, the digital technology will revolutionise our traditional, bricks and mortar universities” (p. 6). In the United States, technology is mentioned more than 100 times in the Common Core State Standards, and “similar expectations exist in states adopting other college- and career-ready standards.” (U.S. Department of Education, 2016, p. 32).

While the incorporation of technology is viewed as a sign of educational progress or superiority, the direct impact of such policies is that the performance of schools and universities are evaluated accordingly, which causes school administrators to look for the use of technol...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Information
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• How to use this book
• 1 The drives: What is behind our decisions regarding instructional technology?
• 2 The filters: Standards, principles, and considerations for selecting and using instructional technology
• 3 Language learning process and points of enhancement using technology:
• 4 Using technology to promote oral proficiency:
• 5 Using technology to promote literacy:
• 6 Learner-centered instruction, digital storytelling, and flipped learning:
• 7 More tools, teacher resources, and peace of mind:
• Index