ABSTRACT

This chapter describes ethnographic research that examined Chinese language teachers’ experiences and practice with technology-enriched project-based language learning (PBLL) in American secondary classrooms. Based on multiple data sources, this study found that PBLL served as an instructional bridge for instructors transitioning from a teacher-centered approach to a constructivist pedagogy, and connected pedagogical beliefs that have roots in the Chinese education system to those in current American educational practices. The benefits of PBLL in Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) education as discovered in the study reaffirms those reported about PBLL in the existing ESL/EFL literature. However, the teacher participants in this study raised doubts about PBLL and demonstrated only restricted use of the approach in their teaching, revealing potential dissatisfaction with the approach and the complexity of teachers’ knowledge development. This chapter concludes with implications for teacher education and professional development for CFL teachers and international teachers with foreign educational backgrounds.