Effective AI Use in Chinese Teaching
Professor Xiao from Pomona College is a member of Cheng & Tsui's Higher Education Advisory Council.
The official launch of ChatGPT 3.5 on November 30, 2022, brought generative artificial intelligence (AI) into everyday life. Since then, AI’s role in language education has attracted increasing attention, and Chinese language instruction is no exception. Despite early skepticism, by 2025, academia’s perspective on AI evolved, embracing concepts such as “co-scientist” (agentic AI that assists scientists in research) and “idea-incubator” (agentic AI that helps people refine and explore ideas). The rapid advancement of AI is transforming traditional classroom instruction and redefining how Chinese is taught and what is taught.
Despite concerns on the limitations of large language models and ethical considerations, most Chinese instructors recognize AI’s potential benefits. The fundamental question has shifted from “Why use AI?” to “Why not use AI?” At the very least, AI can help address two fundamental challenges in Chinese education. First, AI can serve as a 24/7 learning agent for students, filling in the gaps when instructors are not available outside of class hours. Second, AI can effectively meet a wide variety of individual student needs. For example, learners facing challenges in pronunciation, character recognition, or grammar can benefit from AI-powered adaptive learning systems designed for domain-specific training. These technologies can provide instant feedback, scaffolded explanations, and accessibility features that a traditional classroom alone may not offer.
However, despite the widespread fear that AI will replace Chinese instructors, many aspects of language learning, such as critical thinking and creativity, require human interaction and guidance. To provide the type of instruction that humans are uniquely qualified to offer requires a shift in our teaching approach. One recommendation is to adapt syllabi according to Bloom’s Taxonomy, to focus on higher-order thinking skills such as analyzing, evaluating, and creating rather than lower order cognitive skills such as remembering, understanding, and applying. AI can optimize lower-level skill acquisition by providing personalized feedback on recurring errors, reinforcing linguistic knowledge such as syntax and semantics, and assisting with character writing and pronunciation practice. In welcoming AI for the benefits it provides, instructors can focus more on engagement through discussions on cross-cultural and cross-linguistic analysis and creative language use.
In addition, ethical and responsible AI integration can streamline teachers’ workflows. AI tools can automate time-consuming and labor-intensive tasks such as generating lesson slides, creating reading comprehension exercises, or adding Pinyin to characters. In line with the Pareto Principle where 20% of efforts yield 80% of results, teachers can delegate AI to handle routine tasks while dedicating their efforts to guiding students in critical thinking and creativity through authentic communication.
The future of Chinese language instruction will involve a dynamic three-way relationship among learners, instructors, and AI. AI-human interaction will support foundational learning, while human-human interaction will prioritize the most complex and meaningful aspects of language acquisition. As such, AI will not replace Chinese teachers, but those who effectively use it will redefine the future of Chinese teaching.
Comments