The challenges and opportunities of online Chinese teaching

Dan Zhao

Keystone National High School

This paper outlines the experience of an online Native Chinese instructor from Keystone National High School, who teaches Mandarin Chinese through the internet to 25 American students.

China’s global influence matches its fast paced growing global economy. The Chinese language is becoming the popular choice of a second or a third foreign language among American students. However several formidable obstacles prevent some students from benefitting from learning the Chinese language in a classroom with a teacher. A few of these obstacles include: geographical restrictions, personal conditions, spatial and time limitations, and resource scarcities. One solution to these problems is the online Chinese Language classroom. This article explores one solution, an online Chinese Language Classroom, as it exists in some areas in US as well as the possibilities and problems of learning Chinese through internet. The author shares first hand details of how information technology is utilized in the course, its advantages and limits in terms of increasing students’ motivation, creating an online learning community, and developing 6 language skills of Chinese. The author analyzes the challenges faced by online Chinese learning, puts forward possible solutions based on her research and teaching experiments. The article suggests that an online Chinese language classroom that facilitates high quality learning is both possible and practical for students and teachers. The rich resources on internet and the communication convenience brought by information technology make the potential of the online Chinese modern language classroom both a viable and valuable solution for many students who would otherwise miss the opportunity for modern language learning.