Negotiating Online CFL Pedagogy: Teachers’ Practices, Beliefs, and Challenges in Malaysian Higher Education

Abstract

The increasing reliance on online learning in higher education has transformed how language instruction is delivered, how learner participation is monitored, and how assessment is conducted in digital classrooms. For teachers of Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL), this shift is particularly demanding because effective language teaching depends heavily on communicative participation, visible learner response, and immediate instructional feedback. This study examines the teaching and learning practices employed by CFL teachers, the pedagogical beliefs that inform these practices, and the challenges that shape their implementation in online higher education contexts. A qualitative exploratory approach was adopted using semi-structured interviews and short reflective notes involving six CFL teachers from higher education institutions in Malaysia. The data were analyzed through inductive thematic analysis. The findings reveal that teachers employ blended learning structures, interactive reinforcement activities, and multiple digital communication channels as adaptive strategies to sustain participation and language practice. Their instructional decisions are strongly informed by beliefs concerning learner accountability, assessment authenticity, visible response, and the teacher’s facilitative role. However, these pedagogical intentions are consistently mediated by contextual pressures such as increased workload, technological instability, and reduced classroom immediacy. The study demonstrates that online CFL teaching is best understood as a process of negotiated pedagogical adaptation in which teachers continuously reconcile instructional ideals with practical digital constraints. By offering an integrated account of teaching practices, teacher beliefs, and contextual challenges, the study contributes a more context-sensitive understanding of online language teaching and highlights the need for sustained pedagogical and institutional support in digital learning environments.