Search Results (14)

Academic anxiety is a negative emotional state experienced by learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) during their Chinese language learning process. To explore the mediating mechanisms of positive and negative emotions and academic self-efficacy between teacher support and academic anxiety, a questionnaire survey was conducted among 1047 CFL learners, and a structural equation model was established to test the mediating effects. The study found that teacher support helps alleviate academic anxiety among CFL learners; teacher support exerts a certain inhibitory effect on learners’ academic anxiety. However, teacher support does not directly reduce academic anxiety but indirectly influences it through the independent mediating roles of self-efficacy and academic emotions, as well as through the chain mediating effect of both. Based on these findings, the paper provides recommendations for maintaining positive emotions, enhancing self-efficacy, implementing tailored teacher support, and constructing comprehensive motivational mechanisms for CFL learners. Full article

This study explores the effects of integrating virtual reality (VR) into task-based learning (TBL) to support Chinese language learning among Thai university students enrolled in a basic Chinese course. A total of fifty first-year students were selected using simple random sampling and assigned to either a VR-supported experimental group or a traditional control group. Both groups received instruction on the same vocabulary and writing content, delivered by the same instructor, and were assessed using identical pre- and post-tests. The findings indicate that students in the VR-supported group significantly outperformed their peers in the control group. Large effect sizes suggest substantial improvements in both vocabulary knowledge and Chinese character writing, while the control group demonstrated only minimal progress. Survey responses also revealed that students found VR-based tasks highly engaging, closely connected to real-life communication, and strongly motivating. Most participants reported a better understanding of vocabulary and noticeable advancement in learning Chinese characters. However, some students encountered technical difficulties and mild discomfort while interacting with the VR environment. These observations underscore the need for careful instructional design and the importance of implementing VR in a user-friendly and accessible manner. Overall, the study highlights the potential of VR-supported TBL to enhance learning outcomes in beginner-level Chinese courses, provided that technological and pedagogical considerations are carefully addressed. Full article

Learning environment and student engagement (SE) are widely considered valuable to foreign language learning, but how they influence foreign language achievement (LA) remains underexplored. Drawing on sociocultural theory, this survey study explored the impact of the online learning environment (OLE) on LA of Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) and the mediating role of SE among 447 international students in China by using structural equation modeling. The results indicated that: (1) the participants had favorable perceptions toward OLE, SE and LA; (2) OLE factors, i.e., accessibility of online learning materials, student interaction, and course organization significantly positively influenced LA, whereas teacher support did not influence LA; (3) SE mediated the positive effects of all the OLE factors on LA. The results suggest that enhancing online learning environment and increasing student engagement are effective means to improve online CFL learning achievement. Full article

This study examines the perceived and actual effectiveness of an LLM-driven tutor embedded in an educational game for Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) learners. Drawing on 82 chat sessions from 31 beginner-level (HSK3) CFL learners, we analyzed learners’ satisfaction ratings, accuracy before and after interacting with the tutor, and their post-interaction cognitive behaviors. The results showed that while most sessions received positive or neutral satisfaction scores, actual learning gains were limited, with only marginally significant improvements in accuracy following the learner-tutor interaction. Behavioral analysis further revealed that content-irrelevant responses (e.g., technical guidance) were linked to more effective, higher-level cognitive behaviors, whereas content-relevant responses (e.g., explanations of vocabulary or grammar) were associated with more superficial, less effective behaviors, suggesting a possible over-reliance on the LLM-driven tutor. Regression analyses also confirmed that neither satisfaction nor content relevance significantly predicted long-term behavior patterns. Taken together, these results indicate a disconnect between learners’ positive perceptions of the LLM-driven tutor and their actual learning benefits. This study highlights the need for multi-perspective evaluations of LLM-based educational tools and careful instructional design to avoid unintended cognitive dependence. Full article

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic compelled Chinese international education to swiftly move online. Conducted in late 2021, this survey study collected self-reported data on online learning environments, student engagement, Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) learning achievement, and student satisfaction among 440 international students in Chinese higher education institutions. Based on the configuration perspective, fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was used to explore the multiple concurrent paths of the online learning environment (the accessibility of online learning resources, student interaction, teacher support, course organization), student engagement, and learning achievement affecting international students’ online CFL learning satisfaction. The results indicate that satisfactory teacher support combined with student engagement was an important path leading to international students’ satisfaction with online CFL learning. Meanwhile, the inadequate accessibility of online learning resources combined with the absence of learning achievement was likely to trigger international students’ dissatisfaction with online CFL learning. Full article

Research on language learning motivations has been extensive. However, research on learners’ motivations for learning Chinese has been underexplored compared to that for learning English. The current study aimed to investigate the motivations among 256 Turkish learners of Chinese as foreign language (CFL) who studied at five universities in Turkey. Participants completed an adapted questionnaire based on Gardner’s Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB). A series of statistical analysis revealed three major findings. First, integrativeness, attitudes towards learning situation and attitudes towards learning Chinese were identified as the three most important motivational variables, followed by instrumentality, and parental encouragement. Language anxiety and passive motivation seemed to play a weaker role in Turkish CFL learners’ motivations for learning Chinese at the tertiary level. Second, the results also show that females exhibited higher motivation to learn the target language compared to their male peers. Third, the choice of major among CFL learners appeared to influence their language learning motivations, with a notable distinction between Chinese majors and non-Chinese majors in five motivational variables: integrativeness attitudes towards the learning situation, language anxiety, parental encouragement, and passive motivation. Full article

This research focuses on the practice of contextualization in teaching Chinese as a foreign language among a cohort of bilingual language teacher-researchers. It aims to extend the prevalent emphasis in the current literature that acknowledges the role of context in language education; however, these research studies primarily give voice to linguistic contexts or relegates context into a static physical space such as ‘environment’. This research is grounded in a social constructionism perspective whereby context is regarded as a dynamic relation-building process, or more accurately, a contextualizing process, enabled through various sociocultural activities. The data reveal that the teacher-researchers employed various forms of contextualization in teaching and linked these to particular teaching content through identifiable, purposeful activities, resulting in a variety of students’ responses. This research provides an evidence-based understanding of contextualization in CFL teaching for a more sustainable second language education. Full article

This article reports on a study of an intensive three-week culture intervention program, delivered via VooV Meeting (an online meeting platform) as an additional opportunity for CFL students at a Vietnamese university in December 2021. The primary aim was to explore students’ perceptions and experiences of learning about Chinese culture in a non-target language environment since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two hundred and nine mixed-level undergraduate CFL students participated in a survey administered via Google Forms. Overall results indicated that students valued the opportunity offered by this program to learn Chinese culture and acknowledged the importance of cultural study in CFL. There appeared to be different preferences among male and female students and the different year groups in choosing the contents and methods of cultural learning. Additionally, students expressed concerns about using technology in language and culture learning despite its benefits, especially in the absence of real-life human interactions and communications due to travel restrictions. One significant finding was that students recognised teachers’ essential role in learning culture. The survey results, in particular the participants’ responses to open-ended questions, are discussed in this paper. The understanding gained from this study is expected to provide Chinese language professionals and practitioners with insights and suggestions on how Chinese culture can be better integrated into CFL through appropriate and effective teaching strategies in a post-pandemic era. Full article

Sentence-level stress is one of the major means of expressing information focus in oral speaking, and it is of importance for Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) learners to accurately receive and send the right information in conversation. However, research related to teaching stress, especially sentence-level stress, is indeed scarce. In this study, we investigate whether video self-modeling (VSM) is applicable to improve CFL students’ sentence-level stress. VSM, as an innovative strategy, only shows the positive targeted behavior by using videos or audios of oneself, and aims to decrease students’ frustration and the negative influence caused by failed accomplishments. Twelve beginning-level CFL students, taken as the experimental group, received the edited perfect pronunciation audios with their own voice and used these own-voice audios to train their sentence-level stress. At the same time, another twelve advanced-level CFL students were taken as the control group, and received traditional instructional strategies from their class teacher. The whole training continued for ten sessions during a period of two and half months. Quantitative results show that with the help of VSM, CFL students’ sentence-level stress improved significantly as compared to the control group, with increased scores on the pronunciation of sentence-level stress words and increased scores in all three parameters: pitch, intensity, and duration. A post-training survey revealed that the participants’ preference for using their own voice as instructional material resulted in a feeling of success and satisfaction. The findings corroborate the importance of computer-assisted language learning in the second language (L2) field, and add solid evidence of using VSM in foreign-language training. Full article

The outbreak of COVID-19 has forced Chinese international education to move online. An emerging number of studies have been published on online teaching and learning during the pandemic, few of which, however, focus on international students in China. This study examined the predictive effects of an online learning environment and student engagement on international students’ learning of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL). Self-reported data were collected in an online questionnaire survey involving 447 international CFL students at eight universities located in different geographical regions in China. Descriptive statistics revealed the participants’ favorable perceptions of an online learning environment, student engagement and Chinese learning achievement. The results of multiple linear regression revealed that three online learning environment factors, i.e., course accessibility, student interaction, course organization, and student engagement exerted significant positive effects on Chinese learning achievement. The implications of the study are discussed for the sustainable enhancement of the online learning environment to improve international students’ online language learning. Full article

With the development of China, learning the Chinese language has received more and more attention from international students. Teaching Chinese as a foreign language (TCFL) is crucial for spreading Chinese culture and promoting cultural exchanges. In recent years it has become the focus of attention of many scholars, and the heterogeneous cultural backgrounds and diverse language needs of learners determine that TCFL should promote the development of students’ intercultural communication competence in language practice with the use of educational technology. In this study, 82 preservice teachers as an experiment group and 64 preservice teachers as a control group participated in this study; this research aims to improve the quality and level of TCFL, using innovative teaching tools as a means to target preservice TCFL teachers and create a teaching–learning design strategy based on the smart teaching tools Moso Teach (MT) and Rain Classroom (RC). The findings from this research show the importance of the use of smart teaching tools and the improvement of preservice teachers during the experiment compared to preservice teachers with traditional methods. This paper answers the following questions: (1) How to improve preservice TCFL teachers’ competencies by integrating smart teaching tools into their learning process? (2) How to integrate technological, pedagogical, didactic, and social competencies into preservice teachers’ daily teaching CFL? Full article

With the rapid increase in the number of students learning Chinese as a second or foreign language (CSL/CFL), there is a great demand for Chinese language teachers. Although many teacher preparation programmes have been established, only a few graduates from these programmes enter the profession of Chinese language teaching. This has caused instability of the teaching team and has threatened the sustainability of Chinese language education. To explore the reasons why graduates leave this area and the role of professional identity construction in preservice Chinese teachers’ job motivation, this longitudinal qualitative study investigates the job motivation of three student-teachers as a goal of sustainability in teaching force retention. This study was conducted during the participating teachers’ teaching practicum as part of a master’s degree programme in China. By interviewing the three participants and analysing their self-reflective journals, we found that their job motivations changed considerably during the course of their training. Indeed, their professional identity construction did not determine their career choice. Extrinsic factors, such as income and permanent residence, seemed to significantly affect their motivation of entering the profession. Such findings are important, as they help us gain a better understanding of why preservice CSL/CFL teachers choose other careers upon completing teacher education. These results are especially pertinent to those working in Chinese contexts. Full article

This study investigates native English CFL (Chinese as a Foreign Language) learners’ difficulties with Mandarin consonants at the initial stage of learning and explores the relationship between second language (L2) speech perception and production. Twenty-five native English CFL learners read the eight Mandarin consonants (j/tɕ/, q /tɕʰ/, x /ɕ/, zh /tʂ/, ch /tʂʰ/, sh /ʂ/, z /ts/, and c /tsʰ/) in sentences and identified the target sounds in a forced-choice identification task. Native Mandarin listeners identified the consonants produced by the learners and rated the quality of each sound they identified along a scale of 1 (poor) to 7 (good). The learners’ mean percentage accuracy scores ranged from 29% to 80% for perception and 25% to 88% for production. Moderate correlations between the perception and production scores were found for two of the eight target sounds. The Mandarin retroflex, palatal, and dental fricatives and affricates, though all lack counterparts in English, pose different problems to the English CFL learners. The misperceived retroflex and palatal sounds were substituted with each other in perception but mis-produced palatal sounds were substituted with each other, not with retroflex sounds. The relationship between perception and production of L2 consonants is not straightforward. The findings are discussed in terms of current speech learning models. Full article

Within the framework of explicit learning and consciousness-raising, this study investigates patterns in the use of -le in authentic classroom tasks by beginner-level learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL). It also explores the role and the processes of student-centered consciousness-raising in explicit knowledge building. Twenty-five participants completed a grammaticality judgment task, an interactive role-play task, and a written editing task. The experiment group received role-play sheets with explicit forms of -le provided, and participants engaged in rule induction of -le in forbidden context in the role-play session. Results showed that beginner-level learners’ difficulty with -le use manifested in different ways in these tasks, and -le underuse occurred more than overuse in the control group’s oral role-play task. Consciousness-raising through unguided small group rule induction supported participants’ learning of -le usage constraints, shown by differences between the control and experiment groups’ performances in the posttest. Through a qualitative analysis of participants’ analytical talk transcripts, the processes and outcomes of small group rule induction are examined and discussed. Full article