Xiaonan Chu

Educational Background

MA: Bilingual and Bicultural Education, Teachers College, Columbia University
Certificate: Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (TCSOL), Teachers College, Columbia University
MA: English Literature, China University of Petroleum
BA: English, Changchun University of Science and Technology

Classes Taught

CHNS UN1111 FIRST YEAR CHINESE W I
CHNS UN1112 FIRST YEAR CHINESE W II

Research Interests

Second Language Acquisition
Chinese Language Pedagogy
Language Input and Learner Engagement
Differentiated Language Instruction
AI-Supported Language Learning
Curriculum Development

Bio

Xiaonan Chu began teaching as an adjunct Chinese language instructor at Columbia University in Fall 2025. She previously served as a Teaching Associate in Chinese at Columbia and has taught Chinese and English in both the United States and China. Her experience also includes curriculum development, teacher education, and interdisciplinary program design. Her current interests center on responsive language-learning ecologies that integrate rich and comprehensible input, meaningful communication, differentiated pathways, learner agency, and AI-supported learning. She is particularly interested in how language curricula can respond to learners’ diverse linguistic backgrounds, cognitive strengths, and developmental needs.

Publications

Chu, Xiaonan. “On a Contrastive Method of Teaching Culture in ELT Classroom for College-Level Students.” Higher Education of Social Science, 3(3), 2012.

Chu, Xiaonan, and Xiuhua Wang. “Characteristic Analysis of Mandarin Chinese From a Cultural Perspective.” Studies in Literature and Language, 7(2), 2013.

Book chapter in preparation (co-author): Interdisciplinary theme-based learning for K–12 educators in China.