This paper reports on a 10-year case study at a Chinese university of a faculty team's attempt to develop and disseminate a project-based computer-assisted language learning (CALL) program for ...professional communication. The discussion focuses on three main challenges (professional/academic values, pedagogical philosophy, and institutional culture) to expand a project-based CALL program at this university. Based on the findings, this paper discusses how the implementation of project-based CALL for professional communication needs to be founded upon a good understanding of China's sociocultural contexts and how it might be tailored in order to be more responsive to the local university context. This paper concludes by suggesting a path that practitioners might take in light of these circumstances and challenges.
This qualitative case study investigates the technology-enhanced constructivist learning environment (CLE) for developing undergraduate English-majors' research abilities at a Chinese university. The ...faculty group attempted at transforming an English Writing course into BA Thesis Writing, supported by a free online learning management system (Moodle) with multi-faceted scenario, resources, tools and management. Situated in the broader context of the 10-year curriculum reform, two BA Thesis Writing classes from two semesters were examined using observation notes, interviews and student products. Findings show the CLE has enhanced the students' problem-based learning (PBL) processes and research ability development in terms of problem awareness, information literacy, reasoning and research designing. The CLE contributed to the whole learning experience by continuous instructional support, forum discussions, and information resources and tools. However, faculty tended to avoid teaching such a course because it is not only demanding but it clashes with norms of Chinese higher education in terms of professional values, pedagogical philosophy and institutional culture. The paper concludes by assessing the reform efforts' overall gains and challenges, and its implications for future technology integration in foreign language learning and teaching in China.
This paper reviews relevant literature in the field of the context of teacher professional development in the past 40 years. It first outlines the development of theoretical perspectives and changing ...research methods in this field. It then reviews the key issues of relevant studies and their findings in terms of the dimensions and structures of the context, the relationship between the context and the teacher,and the status of the ecological context and its enhancement practice. Limitations in the existing literature are also discussed,with implications for an ecological approach to researching the context of foreign language teacher professional development.
Research suggests that project-based CALL may enhance ESL learners' motivation, improve their learning performance & initiate their active roles in learning (e.g. Debski, 2000: Levy, 1997; ...Warschauer, 1996). This paper addresses the question of whether such CALL projects can achieve similar effects in a Chinese EFL context. A study of a cross-cultural collaborative online writing project conducted in the fall semester of 1999 forms the basis of discussion. 20 Chinese students at Suzhou University & 28 American students at the Southern Polytechnic State University of Georgia participated in the project. Supported by the qualitative data, the writer concludes that CALL projects do have potential in motivating Chinese EFL learners & bringing about positive learning effects, but the key still lies in how they are managed & supported by learners, teachers, & administrators at all levels. 1 Table, 1 Appendix, 23 References. Adapted from the source document
This qualitative case study explored the experiences of Chinese EFL teachers as learners in their socio-cultural contexts in order to identify, describe, and understand their contexts in relation to ...their knowledge and beliefs as well as their practice. Research participants were a group of nine Chinese EFL teachers, chosen for their rich experiences and their noted achievements in shaping the emerging theory and practice in the schools and regions that represent a massive demand for EFL teacher professional development programs. The central research questions include who they are and how they learn, what they know and believe, and how they perceive what they do in their practice as they grow into effective teachers. The primary source of data was a series of individual, in-depth expert teacher interviews. A pre-interview data inventory, field notes and review of case documents also served as means to collect and triangulate data. A data analysis process was developed to examine the perceived linkage between the four major domains of the study: teacher learning, context, knowledge and practice. The result of the data analysis included two representative case stories that provided a background as well as a thematic description of factors that influenced the teacher learning and development. The study's findings confirmed a continuous, interactive, and reflective learning and change process found in the selected literature and a number of contextual factors identified in the previous teacher learning studies. The findings also identified six categories as important knowledge and beliefs for effective language teaching. They are: view of teaching as career, teacher learning, emotional needs, learning needs, English teaching, and contextual knowledge. The findings further suggest that the nature of excellence lies in the integration of a variety of aspects of teacher knowledge as well as teachers' expertise in balancing a multitude of needs and requirements in their school contexts. In addition, the study offers recommendations to administrators and teacher educators to facilitate teacher learning with needs-based professional development programs and supportive teacher evaluation policies. Recommendations for teachers' self-directed and interactive learning are also included, as well as recommendations for further research.
The benefits of understanding how students view their own learning & their teacher's performance are discussed. Gu's experiences using mind-map activities, a Learning Experience Questionnaire, & a ...Learning Strategies project with her English as a second language students (N unspecified) are described, as are her distribution of the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning & a Book Report Project. Results identified three themes: correctness & grammar, hard work & lots of practice, & evidence of achievement, each of which is characterized. It is suggested that teacher-student negotiation should determine a class's curriculum, & that teachers must take steps to better understand their students. 1 Appendix, 7 References. D. Weibel
