Open AccessUsing Scaffolding Materials to Facilitate Autonomous Online Chinese as a Foreign Language Learning: A Study During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Author(s) -
Chen Chen
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
sage open
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.357
H-Index - 32
ISSN - 2158-2440
DOI - 10.1177/21582440211040131
Subject(s) - facilitator , context (archaeology) , psychology , pandemic , mathematics education , pedagogy , foreign language , covid-19 , medicine , social psychology , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , paleontology , biology
This study explores international Chinese as a foreign language students’ use of embedded scaffolding materials to facilitate their learning in an autonomous online context during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 60 international students enrolled in a Chinese university participated in the study. Data were collected via participants’ reflective reports, online tutorials, and individual interviews. This study found that scaffolding materials could be a good facilitator to enhance international students’ autonomy regarding Chinese language skill learning online, which was not a linear process but a recursive changing one. In terms of cultural learning, scaffolding materials were less effective on promoting students’ online learning autonomy. Students preferred teachers’ assistance to their cultural element learning and problem-solving. These findings shed light on online Chinese education during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, when Learn From Home policy of Chinese universities will last for a long time. A longer process of investigation from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives for international students’ autonomous online language learning is recommended for future studies.