Teaching with Cloud Technology: Google Docs for Chinese Language Learning
Keywords:
Google Docs, Google Drive, cloud technology, Chinese language instruction, CFL learningAbstract
Identified as a difficult language for beginning learners to learn, Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) is nonetheless taught in over 1,600 K-12 schools and over 2,700 colleges and universities in the United States. Since CFL teachers and learners have been trying to find innovative and effective teaching or learning approaches, current cloud technology appears to be an inevitable trend for CFL learning as it creates an environment that allows learners to be exposed to more amount of input towards the target language than any traditional classroom learning environment. Given the uniqueness of CFL, this paper seeks to introduce the use of Google Docs for Chinese language learning and discuss the effectiveness of implementing such tool as an instructional method or learning approach to CFL learning. The findings from the learning experiment with 24 adult CFL learners suggest that the implementation of Google Docs for Chinese language learning and teaching be effective. Pros and cons of implementing Google Docs are discussed.
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