Integrating Technology-Enhanced Student Self-Regulated Tasks into University Chinese Language Course

This paper reports on the implementation of a semester-long task in a university lower intermediate Chinese language course. Web-based podcasting technology, ChinesePod, was utilized to assist this implementation. The first part of this paper focuses on the task design informed by frameworks proposed in the literature. The second half of the paper presents and analyses data collected from an end-of-course questionnaire, semi-structured student interviews, and the written scripts of student self-made plays and videos of their performance of the play. The results reveal that the students differ in their perceptions of the task and the ways they approach it. This in turn leads to a quality difference in their performance of the task. This study highlights the importance of careful task design, recognition of individual learning styles and constant rapport with students, especially when student self-regulated tasks are implemented. DOI: 10.4018/ijcallt.2013010101 2 International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching, 3(1), 1-15, January-March 2013 Copyright © 2013, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. instability of language teaching staff, in addition to lack of funding and insufficient teaching hours, also adds to the difficulty. The rapid integration of technology into language teaching seems to offer promise, but whether this promise can be fulfilled calls for empirical evidence. This paper reports on a study that investigates the implementation of a semester-long task supported by a web-based podcasting technology, ChinesePod, in a university lower intermediate Chinese language course. The paper starts with a discussion of the design and implementation considerations based on frameworks proposed in the literature. It then presents findings with regard to the effectiveness of the implementation of the task from the student point of view followed by a discussion about the implications of the task for FL pedagogy.