Research Article
The Strategic Crisis Response of International Chinese Education : Based on 5W Communication Mode
https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2329032/v1
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License
posted
You are reading this latest preprint version
This paper considers the external risks to the efficacy of international Chinese education (ICE) in the post-COVID-19 era using PEST analysis and explores four internal aspects of the shortcomings of ICE: platforms, teachers, teaching materials, and methods. This study constructs a helpful risk-coping strategy model based on the 5W mode of communication. This model may also provide a reference for analyzing other language education problems in the context of public emergencies.
international Chinese education (ICE)
post-COVID-19 era
PEST analysis
5W communication mode，risk-coping strategy model
In its broadest sense, the phrase the “post-COVID-19 era” does not mean that the impact of COVID-19 has completely disappeared, but rather that the novel coronavirus may appear in small-scale breakouts at any time, which has far-reaching impacts on all aspects of life (Wang Zhuli, 2020).
Yuan Li and Kong Ming were the first to use this phrase in research on international Chinese education (ICE) in an October 2020 article published in International Chinese Teaching Research; since then, there have been 6346 relevant Chinese papers published on the “post-COVID-19 era.” The impact of COVID-19 on education, the economy, culture, and other aspects of life has become a central focus of research. In this complex and changeable situation, ICE is faced with both a risk and an opportunity; how can we turn this risk into opportunity? This paper puts forward risk-coping strategies from the perspective of communication.
PEST analysis is commonly used in strategic management, as it analyzes the influence of the external macro-environment on enterprise development in four dimensions: politics, economics, society, and technology (Johnson & Scholes, 1999). It can help us to understand the forces of change in the environment and guide strategic decision-making for ICE.
Politics. In the West, a common ideal is that “the government with the least regulation is the best,” but the Chinese Confucius Institutes do not conform to this Western management concept in terms of affiliation and operation mode. The complete difference in political culture between China and Western countries has caused difficulties in the development of the Confucius Institutes in local areas.
Economics. The global education market is shrinking because of economic hardship. According to statistics from the World Trade Organization, the global economy declined by 13–32% in 2020. The International Monetary Fund predicts the pandemic will have triggered the worst global economic recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s. The continued economic recession will likely affect many foreigners’ plans to study Chinese or to study in China (Cui Xiliang, 2020). Due to a lack of funds, ICE’s course experiences and other activities will also be limited (Wang Hui, 2021).
Society. With the outbreak and spread of COVID-19 around the world, cross-border population mobility has dropped sharply. It is estimated that, in the first quarter of 2020, the global cross-border population movement fell by at least 40% (Cui Xiliang, 2020). This change has prompted Chinese teaching institutions abroad to suspend classroom instruction, and many faculty members have had to scramble to adapt their courses to an online medium, which is not only a huge social change, but also a test for ICE.
Technology. COVID-19 has been a trigger for enacting change and helping learners acquire critically needed digital skills. However, the impact of digital education has been limited in China. Digital teaching and learning must cause a profound change in the teaching process, as well as a fundamental change in educational thinking. The meaning of the digital transformation of ICE will be more significant and, of course, much more difficult (Hu Lanxi, 2021).
Teaching is difficult, and online teaching is even more so. Teachers, teaching materials, and methods are the foundation of ICE. Information technology also plays a key role in online education. The aftermath of COVID-19 has drawn widespread attention to Chinese online teaching platforms for the first time.
Teachers. In the post-COVID-19 era, teachers’ information literacy needs urgent improvement. According to Hannelore B. Rader, the librarian of the University of Louisville, information literacy includes library, media, computer, Internet, and research literacies, as well as critical thinking skills (Bao Xin, Ke Ping, Wang Jie, & Peng Liang, 2021). Due to a lack of information literacy and online teaching experience, teachers have been struggling with effective online instruction (Wang Liangcun & Wang Hui, 2022).
Teaching Materials. During the post-COVID-19 era, teaching materials include not only textbooks but also PowerPoints, films, images, videos, and other tools in a multi-media environment. With the outbreak of COVID-19, online classes were used as an emergency measure for ICE, and its digital resources remain insufficient. For example, the online examination system has not yet been fully prepared, and the online teaching platform needs to be improved as soon as possible.
Teaching Methods. In online classes, if students are unwilling to turn on their camera or interact in the chat box, the course will be boring, with the teacher essentially performing a “one-person show.” This is especially problematic for ICE, as practice is the most important part of learning Chinese. For instance, during the Chinese calligraphy class, students should write with a Chinese brush on paper or with a piece of chalk on the blackboard. Writing with a pen and typing on a computer are clearly different. It is thus important to note that online teaching does not automatically promote good student engagement.
Teaching Platforms. Online classes rely on a technological platform, but lagging Internet connections, as well as crashing and breaking up, often make the classes inefficient. The functions of most teaching platforms are also only applicable to general subjects. There are few platforms for professional courses, and especially for learning Chinese as a second language (Li Xianyin, 2020).
Harold D. Lasswell, an American political scientist, first put forward the 5W model in a 1948 article. This model defines the research scope and primary contents of communication in terms of Who → Says What → In Which Channel → To Whom → With What Effects. This study constructs a systematic strategic crisis response model in terms of these five elements (Fig. 1). The model may contribute to the development of ICE in the post-COVID-19 era.
Undoubtedly, better teachers support better learning, because they are the most knowledgeable about the practice of teaching. In the post-COVID-19 era, ICE teachers should be provided with appropriate knowledge and skills that will help them to contribute effectively when teaching online. Teachers thus need training and workshops on information literacy, as this will improve their ability to actually teach and assess information skills.
The Confucius Institutes should welcome the involvement of social professionals in the teaching process, and private capital should be allowed in efforts to reform ownership. Overseas educational institutions or non-governmental organizations should be allowed to be the main funding body (Zhu Ruiping & Zhang Chunyan, 2016).
ICE is a type of cross-cultural education. Regardless of the region and nation, universal values are shared by all humankind, and this is most suitable for the common meaning space of cross-cultural communication. If ICE encourages debate and open discussion in the classroom, it will eliminate misunderstandings caused by different cultures and achieve better teaching effects. Confucius Institutes should engage excellent local teachers overseas. Local teachers can participate in the instructional design, which can effectively avoid “culture conflict” and “culture shock” in cross-cultural communication (Yuan Li & Tian Huichao, 2020). This is a perfect way to kill two birds with one stone.
The online education industry began in 2013 in China. Affected by the epidemic, it grew rapidly and matured in 2020. Professional technologies and interactive innovation have brought new life to ICE. Live broadcasting has a large scale of users and has become a mature business model. ICE institutions should consider how to enter this field. If ICE uses live broadcasting to create a “micro-class” and present a happy learning environment, a model of “live broadcast + education” will become a new trend. The traditional mode of ICE should appropriately combine timely transformation with live broadcast marketing, as instruction is likely to enter the “live broadcast + education” era.
A teacher-centered form of instruction has limited the growth of Chinese students’ divergent thinking, reverse thinking, and critical thinking. The new student-centered model allows students to become more active in class. Teachers should start to focus on students and fully embody the main role of the students to cultivate a new ICE teaching mode.
ICE should also respond to individual needs and provide appropriate support. An example of a successful teaching model that ensures the individual needs are met and supported appeared in Rwanda, where the “Mandarin + Vocational Skills” educational project began in 2009. Local schools offered “Special Chinese Classes for Special Purposes” to students who wanted to study in China or work for Chinese-owned companies. This is a good model for ICE, which is more flexible and capable of encouraging life-long learning.
To achieve good effects, the communication process in ICE must form a closed loop, and gathering feedback from the audience is an indispensable part of this process. A good communication process monitors, measures, and provides feedback. The planned activities and predicted results should be compared with the actual results so that continuous improvement can be achieved.
Without feedback mechanisms to check and monitor the implementation of the teaching process, ICE is just a one-way transmission. The final step of the teaching process is taking action on the feedback gathered from all stakeholders, especially teachers and students. Additionally, teachers and academics should study the feedback received and make suggestions for ICE. Only in this way can ICE continuously improve.
Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of China, unified the Chinese script, which caused a significant change in Chinese culture and promoted social development during the third century BCE. Language serves as a cohesive force for different groups of people. In the Bible, humankind wanted to build the tower of Babel in the hope of ascending to heaven through it, but they failed because God confused human speech so that they could not understand what they said to one another. This story shows how language also serves as a dividing force.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has led people to recognize that sudden public events have a great impact on language education. The external and internal environment of ICE thus needs more attention and in-depth study (Wang Hui, 2021). As George H. W. Bush observed in his remarks at the 2017 National Chinese Language Conference, “Your mission of educating the next generation of global citizens as to the importance of speaking Mandarin […] is more important today than ever before!” (Xinhua News Agency, 2017).
Ethical Approval :Not applicable
Competing interests :No
Authors' contributions :Sole author
Funding :Henan Office of Philosophy and Social Science 2022,
Project No. 2022ZT60.
Availability of data and materials :All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).
No competing interests reported.
posted
You are reading this latest preprint version