Toward Deepening Cultural and Language Understanding: The Design and Practice of a Hybrid Business Chinese Course

Abstract

This article introduces an ongoing effort to use Internet resources in an Advanced Business Chinese for Professionals (ABCP) course in order to deepen learners’ language and cultural understanding. This course blends face-to-face (F2F) classroom instruction and online communications using Brix, an online course management system developed by the University of Hawai‘i. This article starts with the rationale and necessity of a hybrid course for ABCP and presents an overview of a traditional F2F business Chinese class with its strengths and weaknesses. Following the overview, this article outlines the design of a hybrid environment for this course, detailing its structure, content, and instructional processes. Illustrations of the F2F and online alternations in classroom teaching, online tasks with instructor’s guidance and feedback, and online forum discussion for each unit are offered. Experiences gained in this process regarding instructional intervention, projected learners’ learning outcomes, and interactive peer learning through the Internet will also be shared. Reflections and suggestions on aspects that may impact the success of this approach are proposed for future improvement in an ideal hybrid business language course.