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Business Professionals Learn Chinese through Innovative Online Course
Business professionals need only Internet access to learn Chinese through the Language Institute’s online course. Photo by Jeff Miller, UW-Madison University Communications.
As business relationships between U.S. and Chinese companies expand, knowledge of the local language and culture has become increasingly valuable. Recognizing that crowded work and travel schedules prevent many business professionals from attending on-campus classes, the UW-Madison Language Institute has developed an online Chinese course designed specifically with the needs of these individuals in mind. Twelve students, most working professionals based in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois, are enrolled in the pilot of Elementary Conversational Chinese for Professionals I during the Fall 2007 semester.
The course differs from typical online language classes in that it incorporates three modes of learning—interpersonal, presentational, and interpretive—while also addressing topics related to cultural attitudes, beliefs and practices, all in a business or professional context. It also involves significant personal interaction among students and between students and the instructor. Dianna Murphy, associate director of the Language Institute, believes that this flexible course design is key. “To learn to use a language, students need lots of practice communicating in the language in real time, with real people,” she said. “The design of this course allows students to complete some work independently, but requires that they ‘meet’ online, or by Skype [an Internet-based software program] or telephone, with each other, and with the instructor, to practice speaking and listening in Chinese.”
Students gain the language skills needed to engage in spontaneous conversation in person or via e-mail, to prepare oral and written presentations, and to interpret or understand other speakers. They spend approximately nine hours each week completing online exercises and translation and character writing assignments and engaging in conversational practice. In keeping with the goal of the course, each of the semester’s six lessons is organized around business situations such as getting acquainted, introducing colleagues and making appointments. The semester runs for 15 weeks, plus a final exam.
A typical lesson includes practice in grasping the general idea of a conversation, using business vocabulary in the context of a conversation or presentation, learning to use new grammatical forms and structures, recognizing and writing Chinese characters, and conversing with colleagues—all focused on a particular business situation. "It's been a fun and interesting experience," said Paul Ledin, an analyst in the Economics and Statistics Department at the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) and an Evening MBA student at the Wisconsin School of Business. "Overall I've learned quite a bit and I've been impressed by the effectiveness of the format."
Students engage in conversation sessions with the instructor by telephone or via Skype. They complete most exercises and quizzes online, with translation and writing assignments completed on paper and faxed or e-mailed to the instructor for feedback. "The structure of the class has really been helpful to me. I wouldn't have been able to do a foreign language class if it was in the classroom," said Matt Krumenauer, who works in the Wisconsin Division of Forestry and will travel to China in 2008 as part of his Wisconsin Evening MBA program.
The Language Institute is seeking funding to continue offering this course and a second-semester online Chinese course in the future. Support for the current course is being provided during the 2007-2008 academic year by the Office of Education Outreach, the College of Letters & Science, CIBER, and the Center for East Asian Studies. More information about the online Chinese program is available in the Business & Community section of the Language Institute Web site, www.languageinstitute.wisc.edu.