Future of Chinese Language Teachers in the SMART Technology Era

New technology often brings new opportunities and challenges. Recently there have been heated discussions on applications and implications of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence (AI) tools. What is the true value of language learning when technologies become more convenient and powerful, and are even expected to be smarter than humans in the future? What are the opportunities and challenges for language teaching professionals including Chinese language teachers in the SMART technology era? In addition to addressing these questions, this session will review strengths and weaknesses of ChatGPT and other popular AI tools for Chinese language teaching and learning. It will also share some of the new trends and initiatives in the field, and discuss how to prepare for the fast-changing world both personally and professionally.

LIU Shijuan is Professor of Chinese in the Department of Foreign Languages, Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  She has taught Chinese in both China and the United States since 1995, and received several teaching awards. She holds a doctorate in Instructional Systems Technology, and has published widely in language education and online education. Her work has appeared as book chapters and in various journals such as The Language Learning Journal, and Journal of Educational Technology and Society.

Dr. Liu is the editor of two new books: Teaching the Chinese Language Remotely: Global Cases and Perspectives (by Palgrave Macmillan), and Online Chinese Teaching and Learning in 2020 (by National Foreign Language Resource Center). She has been serving as an editor for Journal of Technology and Chinese Language Teaching since its inaugural issue in 2010, and on the Board of Directors of Chinese Language Teachers Association, USA, 2018-21.