Holistic and dynamic: teacher-researcher reflections on operating mobile-assisted learning tasks supported by WeChat for
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Holistic and dynamic: teacher‑researcher reflections on operating mobile‑assisted learning tasks supported by WeChat for Chinese as a foreign language Peiru Tong1,2 · Irene Shidong An2 · Yijun Zhou2 Received: 29 October 2019 / Accepted: 17 September 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Teacher perspectives have been lacking in the mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) literature. To fill this gap, this study investigates how Chinese teachers implemented WeChat-supported language tasks and the challenges they encountered in the process. Based on technology-mediated task-based language teaching and authentic assessment frameworks, we designed tasks that aimed to achieve both pedagogical goals (focusing on linguistic forms and achieving authenticity) and technological goals. Teachers’ reflective journals revealed that implementing WeChat-supported tasks was a holistic and dynamic process, entailing four interrelated phases and requiring continuous management of unexpected events. This indicates that teachers should develop new skills and play complex, well-rounded roles to meet both the pedagogical and technological goals of technologymediated tasks in MALL in the digital era. Keywords Mobile-assisted language learning · Teacher perspective · Task-based language teaching · Authentic assessment · WeChat · Chinese as a foreign language Abbreviations TAM Technology acceptance model PPP Presentation-practice-production FL Foreign language L2 Second language NS Native speaker MALL Mobile-assisted language learning
* Peiru Tong [email protected]; [email protected] Irene Shidong An [email protected] Yijun Zhou [email protected] 1
Institute of Education Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
2
Department of Chinese Studies, School of Languages and Cultures, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
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Vol.:(0123456789)
P. Tong et al.
SA Study abroad TBLT Task-based language teaching TR Teacher-researcher
Introduction Recent years have witnessed rising interest in the benefits of mobile platforms, such as the WeChat application, as a language-learning tool for Chinese as a foreign/second language (FL/L2). WeChat, a common social networking and messaging mobile application, allows Chinese language instructors all over the world to share a common platform for mobileassisted language learning (MALL). Research on WeChat-supported MALL benefits a broad range of audiences. Previous studies have examined how WeChat enables daily conversation in the study-abroad (SA) context (Jin 2018; Tong and Tsung 2018) and languagelearning activities in formal instruction or tandem programs in Chinese in the FL context (Jiang and Li 2018; Sung and Poole 2017; Wang et al. 2016; Xu and Peng 2017). These studies focused on the learner perspective and documented the advantages of WeChat for language learning (e.g., instant contact with teachers, peers and native speakers; collaborative learning in online groups; entertainment and flexibility; etc.). However, teachers’ perceptions and experience
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