A multilingual open access database of resources for Teaching and Learning Chinese as a Foreign Language

Abstract

Fundació Institut Confuci de Barcelona (Ref. A15); Departament de Traducció, d'Interpretació i d'Estudis de l'Àsia Oriental

Nowadays the use of technologies is deeply embedded in the teaching and learning of foreign languages. Therefore, students and teachers are compelled to continuously update their digital skills. The need for online teaching has been spurred by the COVID pandemics, thus posing new challenges in this regard. One of the main difficulties when looking for online tools is the vast amount and disparity of resources available to both teachers and students, who often feel overwhelmed due to the lack of time or assessment criteria. Thus, the potential of existing resources is not fully exploited. In this context, we aim at developing an online open access database of digital resources for TCFL, which includes a collection of metadata to satisfy different user profiles and needs. The database has been designed through a dialogical process among all team members. Additionally, all resources are thoroughly analyzed by a minimum of two researchers to guarantee consistency and quality. The resulting product is a multilingual and dynamic site, useful for both teachers and learners who, in turn, will be able to enrich it through different types of feedback. We will present this project and the database's main features and possibilities.