Professor of Chinese Hong Gang Jin published an article in a recent issue of Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association (JCLTA). The article, “Participatory Learning in Internet Web Technology: A Study of Three Web Tools in the Context of CFL Learning,” explores Chinese language learning and instruction within a technology-rich, collaborative and participatory learning environment.
According to the abstract, “Specifically, we will study the effect of three types of participatory web tools in light of each tool’s participatory functions, interactive features and their impact on target language use. The study involved 21 U.S. undergraduate students who are learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL). The three participatory web tools under examination in this study are discussion boards, blogs, and Skype.
“The present study contributes to the field of technology-assisted language education and the field of CFL in four ways: (1) the study provides evidence that the use of participatory web tools promotes participatory learning and authentic interaction; (2) the study indicates that participatory learning assisted by participatory web tools increases a learner’s target language use if the pedagogical design is sound and technology use is appropriate; (3) the study develops six standard categories to evaluate participation and interaction in different web tools; and (4) the study also establishes a system to measure the degree of participation and interactivity in web tools for second language instruction.”
According to the abstract, “Specifically, we will study the effect of three types of participatory web tools in light of each tool’s participatory functions, interactive features and their impact on target language use. The study involved 21 U.S. undergraduate students who are learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL). The three participatory web tools under examination in this study are discussion boards, blogs, and Skype.
“The present study contributes to the field of technology-assisted language education and the field of CFL in four ways: (1) the study provides evidence that the use of participatory web tools promotes participatory learning and authentic interaction; (2) the study indicates that participatory learning assisted by participatory web tools increases a learner’s target language use if the pedagogical design is sound and technology use is appropriate; (3) the study develops six standard categories to evaluate participation and interaction in different web tools; and (4) the study also establishes a system to measure the degree of participation and interactivity in web tools for second language instruction.”
