Does a 3D immersive experience enhance Mandarin writing by CSL students?

This study aimed at enhancing the Mandarin essay writing by learners of Chinese as a second language (CSL) in Singapore by using authentic contexts in Second Life (SL). The participants were students in two classes of eighth graders from a junior high school in Singapore, and the study lasted for 5 weeks. A quasi-experimental design was adopted by randomly assigning the two classes to the experimental group (N=26) or the control group (N = 34). The two groups received identical writing instructions and were asked to write essays about identical topics within an identical time period. The only difference between the two groups was the activities performed at the prewriting stage: with or without immersive exploration in SL. Three kinds of qualitative data were collected and analyzed: students’ writing plans, students’ compositions, and in-class observation data. The analysis results show that the writing motivation and performance of the CSL students varied depending on whether or not they performed immersive exploration before writing. Those who explored the authentic contexts in SL before writing performed significantly better at constructing a prewriting plan and exhibited significantly higher writing quality compared to those without such an immersive experience. The former group also demonstrated higher motivation

A CURRICULUM FOR IMPROVING CHINESE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS\u27 LISTENING COMPREHENSION SKILLS THROUGH VIDEO GAMES

English has been a compulsory subject in Grades 3-9 in China since 2010, English is also a compulsory subject at the secondary level and widely used at the postsecondary level as well. However, Chinese English teachers spend more time teaching English grammar and vocabulary translation while ignoring the instruction of listening and speaking. The importance of teaching listening has been ignored while listening skill is primary to the acquisition of the other language skills. Chinese students’ incompetence of listening and speaking has become a common phenomenon. Also, due to the exam-oriented education system in China, students are under intense pressure, which may lead to the reduction of their learning motivation. Materials being used are designed based on Guidelines on Graduation Examination, which could be monotonous and stereotyped. According to the problems above, this project is aimed to provide a new way for teachers to instruct listening. It is designed to create an innovative and relaxed learning environment to lower students’ affective filter and increase their motivation

A Multimedia Resource Manual to Facilitate English Language Instruction for Elementary Youth in Taiwan

The purpose of this project was to develop a multimedia resource manual to facilitate English language instmction for elementary youth in Taiwan. To accomplish this purpose, a review of current literature regarding multimedia technology in English language instmction for EFL/ESL learners was conducted. In addition, unit overviews, objectives oflesson plans, learning activities, teaching strategies, and instmctional materials were adapted and developed

Developing Students Vocabulary at Elementary School by Using Words Game

The objective of this research was to know whether by using words games can improve students' vocabulary skills. Researchers used a pre-experimental research design. The sample of this study was selected using totally sampling. The research instrument used pre-test and post-test. This research was conducted in the elementary School. Data from the results of this study indicate that there is a significant increase in the amount of treatment given. In the experimental class, students' vocabulary skills improve. In the experimental class there was a treatment given, using a Words game. The improvement can be proven by the mean post-test score of 80.00 and it can be concluded that the use of words games can improve students' vocabulary skills. &nbsp

Content-Based Approaches and Second Language Instruction

Integration of content-based instruction into an English curriculum based on communicative goals is suggested to better solve the problems of materials and syllabus design in Taiwan. Historical antecedents and the rationales for content-based instruction are reviewed to illustrate a modern perspective on the interwoven relationship between language and content learning. The project proposes a three-year content-based English program for Taiwan\u27s elementary and preschool students. A first year curriculum and model lessons for mathematics, science, social studies, and language arts are presented

Virtual world-supported contextualized multimodal EFL learning at a library

This study aims to investigate the influence of story creation on young EFL learners’ reading performance. Action research was adopted to examine the effects of two different story reading projects in a library setting in Taiwan. Each project comprised a group of 19 young EFL learner from Grades 4 to 6 (aged 10-12). The first group’s activities consisted of picture storybook reading and word games. The results obtained from the pre- and post-reading tests on the learners’ performance revealed an increase in their English reading scores. But the results of the learners’ motivation and anxiety questionnaire were unsatisfactory. To overcome this discrepancy, a 3D virtual construction task using Omni-immersion Vision, an online VR construction tool, was added to the reading activity. This let the students express their ideas through multimodal resources including text and images in their stories and their 3D virtual contexts. The results showed that the second group made improvements not only in their English language reading but also in their learning motivation, and they demonstrated lower levels of anxiety than the first group. It appears that a combination of multimodal stories and context construction in virtual worlds benefited EFL learners