Can language learning and cross-cultural exchange thrive virtually? Online learning at the HNC 外语学习与跨文化交流会在虚拟平台兴盛吗？中美中心的线上学习

By Hope Parker

柯梦希

NANJING, China — By January 22^nd, 2020, when human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus was confirmed, Hopkins-Nanjing Center (HNC) students, faculty and staff had already spread around the world for Lunar New Year holidays and travel. Students were slated to begin spring semester classes on February 24^th and were anxiously awaiting news of how the HNC would be affected by COVID-19. The accelerating health crisis and travel restrictions could limit students’ abilities to take advantage of the linguistic and intercultural opportunities that the HNC uniquely offers. As students questioned whether they would enroll in spring semester classes, the HNC administration began making an action plan.

中国南京 — 2020年1月22日，当新冠肺炎的人传人被证实时，中美中心的师生及员工已经在世界各地过春节和旅行了。春季学期从2月24日开始，学生们急切地等待着新冠肺炎将会如何影响中美中心的消息。不断升级的健康危机与旅行限制都会限制学生利用中美中心独特的外语与文化交流机会。当学生质疑他们能否参与春季学期的课程时，中美中心管理部门已开始制定计划。

As a partner school between Johns Hopkins SAIS and Nanjing University, the HNC must receive approval from both universities’ administrations before making major decisions. Due to continually changing domestic and international situations, as well as the need for consultation between two large administrations, “decisions have been delayed while awaiting facts on the ground,” stated the HNC’s American Co-Director, Dr. Adam Webb. Fortunately, “both sides have approached this challenging time in an adaptable and accommodating spirit,” he described. But that does not mean students have always been pleased with the results.

中美中心作为约翰斯·霍普金斯大学与南京大学的一个伙伴学院，任何重要决定都必须得到双方大学行政的认可。由于一直变化的国内与国际情况及两所大学相互协商的需求，“在等待事实的同时，决定也被推迟了，”中美中心的美方主任魏亚当博士这样说道。有幸的是，“双方都以适应且包容的精神迎接这一充满挑战的时刻，”他说。然而这并不意味着学生总是对结果感到满意。

On February 5^th, the HNC administration announced plans to begin the spring semester in a virtual format, while holding out hope that the health crisis would abate and students could return to campus. The Co-Directors sent weekly updates to students about plans for re-opening, committing to provide two to three weeks (later adjusted to three weeks) notice prior to re-opening. As students waited for a decision about the HNC’s reopening, many flights between the U.S. and China were cancelled; several Chinese cities announced that individuals travelling from overseas would be required to quarantine in hotels for two weeks upon arrival; and China’s Foreign Ministry suspended the entry of most foreigners beginning on March 28^th. On April 7^th, the Co-Directors’ update informed students that the HNC would not be reopening for the remainder of the semester.

2月5日，中美中心行政宣布春季学期将以线上授课的方式正式开始，但行政仍希望健康危机可以被解除，学生们可以回到南京校园。两主任每周都会发送中心重新开门的最新计划，承诺会提前两到三周（之后调整为三周）提供时间通知。在学生们的等待期间， 许多中美之间的航班被取消了，很多中国城市决定从国外入境的旅行者必须在宾馆内接受两个星期的隔离，3月28日起中国外交部中止大部分外国人的入境。4月7日，两主任通知学生们中美中心在春季学期将不会开门。

Students are drawn to the HNC by the opportunity to develop cross-cultural communication and linguistic skills. Courses are conducted in students’ target languages, with Chinese students primarily studying in English and international students primarily taking courses in Chinese. Students live on campus, with Chinese and international students paired together as roommates. Now, students all live off campus, mostly in their home countries. Much of the institution’s linguistic and cross-cultural distinctiveness may be lost in a virtual setting. As Yuyang Zhou (周煜洋), a Chinese student Banwei (class committee representative) recounts, although everyone “has been working on maintaining communications on the internet, so far it’s still irreplaceable,” referring to the daily interactions that usually occur on campus. Far from feeling stuck in the ‘HNC bubble,’ as the tight-knit and insulated community is often described, in international student Banwei, Jonah Kaplan’s eyes, “the whole HNC community life does not exist virtually.”

学生们被中美中心所提供的发展跨文化交流与外语能力的机会所吸引。所有课程使用学生的目标语言，所以中方学生的课大部分是用英语教授的，国际学生课程大部分是用中文教授的。学生们住在中美中心校园，中国学生与国际学生结成室友。现在，学生都住在校园外，大部分是在他们的祖国。中心在语言与跨文化方面的许多特性在线上环境中被丧失。中方班委周煜洋说，尽管大家“都在努力维护互联网上的交流，到目前为止，这仍然是不可替代的，”这里所指的是通常发生校园里的日常互动。从国际班委孔志努（Jonah Kaplan) 的角度看，人们非但没有像所说的那样感觉被困在“中美中心气泡”中，相反，“整个中美中心的社区生活实际上并不存在”。

Another concern has focused on the difficult timing of the course schedule: to accommodate students spread around the world, but primarily in Chinese and U.S. times zones, courses are conducted Sunday through Friday from 7:30am to 10:40am, then again from 8:30pm to 11:40pm Beijing time (7:30pm to 10:40pm and 8:30am to 11:40am EST). 

另一关注体现在课程安排的艰难上：为了适应遍布世界各地的学生， 但主要是在中国和美国时区，课程被安排在周日到周五的上午7:30至10:40（北京时间）以及晚上的8:30至11:40（即美国东部时间的晚上7:30至10:40和上午8:30至11:40）。

In response to new challenges and what they see as reduced value of online classes, many students called for decreased tuition and a pass/fail grading system. Like those at many other schools, students were unsuccessful in attempting to reduce their fees. Unlike many schools in the U.S., the HNC opted not to institute the pass/fail system. The decision stated “HNC is maintaining its normal grading standards because of its joint degree arrangements.” In short, Nanjing University does not offer pass/fail as a grading option, so the HNC cannot either.

为了应对新的挑战及他们所认为的网络课程的贬值，许多学生要求学费的减免以及一个通过/不通过的评分系统。和其他许多学校一样， 学生们在争取学费的减少上并没有成功。与美国的许多学校不同，中美中心拒绝实行通过/不通过的制度。这一决定表明了“由于中美中心的联合学位安排，我们会维持正常的评分标准”。换句话说，因为南京大学不提供通过/不通过制度，所以中美中心也不能。

Time zone discrepancies and the debate over pass/fail grading are reminders that HNC students chose to study at an international cooperative institution. Certain policies that are enacted easily by American institutions may not be possible in Nanjing. In fact, when students enroll at the HNC, they make a commitment to work through difficulties together. Under usual circumstances, these challenges may revolve around self-expression in one’s target language and room temperature, but in the HNC’s short history the institution and its students have faced significant challenges. In 1989 the Tiananmen Square protests forced the center to close early. In 1997 the United States bombed China’s embassy in Belgrade, causing significant friction between students. Most recently, in 2003 the HNC moved to Hawaii for a semester due to the SARS outbreak. During each of these events, there were surely challenges and complaints among students. As in those times, students are again tasked with working through the current crisis together.

时差与通过/不通过评分制度的辩论都在提醒着中美中心的学生，他们选择在一所国际合作学院上课。美国大学实行的有些政策在南京是不可行的。其实，当学生在中美中心注册时，他们承诺一同克服困难。在普通情况下，这些挑战可能指的是用目标语言中的自我表达和室温，但是在中美中心的短暂历史中，该学院已与其学生面临了重大的挑战。1989年天安门抗争使中美中心被迫提前关门。1997年美国轰炸中国驻贝尔格莱德大使馆，造成中美学生之间的严重摩擦。最近，2003年由于非典疫情，中美中心搬至夏威夷度过了一个学期。在每一个事件中，学生们都面临了挑战且纷纷抱怨。跟之前的事件一样，如今学生们再次肩负着共同度过危机的重任。

From another angle, sometimes circumstances change and the most effective policy is not to recreate what once was but rather to find new ways to achieve long-standing goals. As the HNC administration has pointed out, there are ways to recreate the school’s community online, including language partner exchanges, social activities and guest lectures. However, when students live in conflicting time zones and their overlapping waking hours are filled with class, convincing oneself or others to show up for an early-morning or late-night optional event is not easy. When people are not located at the HNC, they often cannot live on the same calendar. 

从另一个角度看，情况时有变化，而最有效的政策是找到实现长期目标的新方法而非重现过去。如中美中心行政所提出的，的确有办法在线重现学院的团体，包括通过语言伙伴交流、社交活动和客座讲座。不过，当学生们生活在相互冲突的时区而且他们重叠的清醒时间大多为上课时间时，说服自己或他人出现在清晨或深夜的可选活动绝非易事。当人们不在中美中心时，他们通常不能在同一个日历上生活。

The issue goes beyond time zones: students’ lives are now filled with new challenges and expectations unlike those at the HNC. Those who are living with parents now face different familial expectations, and students living on their own may need to work in order to pay rent and other expenses that are higher than those in Nanjing. Indeed, Co-Director Webb pointed out that “this crisis has brought to light how much varied circumstances can affect people, whether in their living arrangements or family responsibilities or travel constraints.”

这也是一个超越时区的问题：学生的生活现在都面临着跟在中美中心时不一样的新挑战与期待。跟父母住在一起的学生们现在面临着不同的家人期待，而独居的学生可能需要通过工作以支付房租及其他比南京更高的费用。的确，魏主任指出“该危机暴露出，无论是在生活安排、家庭责任还是旅行限制方面， 各种各样的情况都会对人们产生影响”。

The sudden health crisis introduced unexpected roadblocks to which there was never going to be a perfect answer. However, as the pandemic continues and international travel has slowed, there are doubts about whether students will be able to attend HNC in-person during the fall 2020 semester. If solely online classes continue in the fall, the professors, students and administration can take summer vacation to prepare. International student Banwei, Leah Hashagen, points out that professors need “to find better ways to engage students on the virtual platform, but I think some narratives will need to be adjusted to allow that to happen.” She highlighted the potential damage of equating virtual and in-person classes, adding “claiming that the current quality of online academic content is exactly the same as pre-online is simply incorrect, and even harmful to the credibility of the school.”

突如其来的健康危机带来了意想不到的障碍，对此，并不存在一个完美的答案。不过，随着这一流行病的持续和国际旅行的放缓，人们开始怀疑学生们能否在2020年秋季学期在中美中心校园上课。如果秋学期将仅仅是在线课程的继续，那么教授、学生和行政部门都可以利用暑假来准备。国际学生班委何莉娅（Leah Hashagen）指出，教授需要“找到更好的方法让学生参与到线课平台上，但我认为有些叙述需要调整，以重续这种情况发生”。她强调了将线上课程与面对面的课程等同起来的潜在危害，并补充说“声称当前的质量对网上学术内容的认定完全等同于之前的课程在根本上是不正确的，甚至有损学校的公信力”。

So how can the HNC improve its virtual offerings going forward? Accounting for the lack of language immersion came up in conversations with students, as did ways to make the class schedule more accommodating and less exhausting. More specific recommendations that emerged include adjusting the grading standards to account for students’ new and varied challenges and encouraging professors to record their classes for students who are unable to attend or struggle to understand a lecture. In speaking with Co-Director Webb, it was clear that the administration has plans to more effectively use technology in upcoming semesters. Beyond encouraging professors to use breakout rooms as a way to encourage discussion, JHU SAIS is also thinking of conducting a Zoom training for professors. Eventually, SAIS administration hopes to use Zoom as a way to integrate the D.C., Bologna and Nanjing campuses.

所以，中美中心将如何进一步提高线上课程的质量呢？在与学生的对话中，发现了缺乏语言沉浸感的原因，还有一些方法可以使课堂安排更通融，减少疲劳。更加具体的建议包括调整评分标准以应对学生面临的各种新挑战以及鼓励老师通过课程录音来支持无法参加或难以理解讲座的学生。在跟魏主任讨论后，行政对在即将到来的学期里更有效地使用技术的倾向很明显。除了鼓励老师们利用会议室来鼓励讨论之外，霍大也考虑对教授进行有关线上平台Zoom的培训。最终，霍大行政希望用Zoom来整合华盛顿、博洛尼亚和南京校区。

As the HNC community considers another virtual semester, students should remind themselves of why they chose the HNC: it is not just the linguistic training, but also the skills gained from working through these tough issues. At the same time, the administration should acknowledge that some things are lost on a virtual platform. Chinese and international students are typically paired as roommates to create bonds and work through cultural differences together, but those opportunities are not available on a virtual platform. Rather than trying to find replacements, there should be new ideas and channels of communication.

在中美中心社区考虑下一线上课程学期的同时，学生们应该提醒自己为什么选择中美中心：这不仅仅是语言培训，也是通过这些困难问题获得的技能。同时，行政应该承认在虚拟平台上有些机会的确被丢失了。中国与国际同学平常以室友的身份配对以建立联系并通过文化差异共同努力，而这些机会在虚拟平台上都是不存在的。与其试图寻找备选项，应该存在新的想法和沟通渠道。

Hope Parker is reporting from Penngrove, California.

柯梦希在加州Penngrove市报道。

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