Using Scaffolding Materials to Facilitate Autonomous Online Chinese as a Foreign Language Learning: A Study During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

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.