Twenty years of telecollaborative practice: implications for teaching Chinese as a foreign language

ABSTRACT

In an attempt to promote telecollaborative exchanges in the field of teaching Chinese as a foreign language, this paper conducts a comprehensive review of telecollaborative practice from the past twenty years and focuses on five important themes emerging from the literature on telecollaboration, i.e. models, tasks, challenges, technologies, and new trends. Special attention is given to how each theme's findings can be applied to telecollaborative projects for Chinese language learners. Based on the model of competencies for telecollaborative teachers developed by O'Dowd (2013), the implications of twenty years of telecollaborative practice for teaching Chinese as a foreign language are discussed in four areas, i.e. organizational, pedagogical, digital competences, and attitudes and beliefs.

KEYWORDS:

• Telecollaboration
• telecollaborative exchange
• intercultural exchange
• intercultural competence
• Chinese as a foreign language

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Han Luo

Han Luo is currently a visiting assistant professor of Chinese at Lafayette College. She received a PhD degree in foreign language education with a specialization in the teaching of Chinese from the University of Texas at Austin in 2011, and a PhD degree in linguistics and applied linguistics from Beijing Foreign Studies University in 2007.

Chunsheng Yang

Chunsheng Yang is currently an assistant professor of Chinese at the University of Connecticut. He received a PhD degree in Chinese Linguistics from Ohio State University.