Abstract
Computer supported learning has become a major trend in language learning and teaching in the 21st century. However, there are still few studies addressing the application of computer supported collaborative learning in teaching and learning Chinese as a foreign language. The researchers designed a distance collaborative program in which 72 Chinese learners in the US and 27 Chinese pre-service teachers in Taiwan could complete a series of collaborative assignments via video conferencing and communicating tools. Within this designed collaborative structure, Mandarin Chinese language learners could practice the target language, and Mandarin Chinese language pre-service teachers could also practice teaching foreign students. The result of this study showed that this distance collaborative program had a positive impact on the Chinese learners' academic outcomes. The students in the experimental group (mean=78.21) outperformed those in the control group (mean=68.37) significantly_�_t[42]=2.34, p=.02). Besides, it was found that students with different backgrounds and learning behaviors performed differently within this computer supported collaborative learning structure. Those students who studied Chinese less than one hour per week in the experimental group scored better on the post-test than those in the control group. It was also found that those who had Internet surfing ability had better improvement than those who did not. The overall results suggested that computer supported collaborative learning can be an effective learning model for the Net Generation.
Author Information
Chiayi Chen, Kainan University, Taiwan
Yan-Jin Pan, National Chia Yi University, Taiwan
Paper Information
Conference: ACP2016
Stream: Linguistics, Language & Psychology/Behavioral Science
This paper is part of the ACP2016 Conference Proceedings (View)
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