ERIC Number: EJ1469054
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1470-8477
EISSN: EISSN-1747-759X
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Why Not Learn with Children? A Model of Intercultural and Intergenerational Learning through Mandarin as a Second Language in Higher Education
Language and Intercultural Communication, v25 n2 p273-291 2025
This study develops an intercultural and intergenerational model for teaching Mandarin as a second language, aimed at enhancing international students' intercultural communicative competence. Three native Mandarin-speaking kindergarten children in Taiwan, with no English knowledge, participated in a university Mandarin class with international students. They interacted exclusively in Mandarin, engaging in tasks like introductions, surveys, and storytelling. Students later provided community services, reading to Taiwanese kindergarteners in Mandarin. Through action research, including teacher logs, reflections, and interviews, the model was shown to improve students' attitudes, interpretation skills, and critical cultural awareness.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Mandarin Chinese, Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Action Research, Recordkeeping, Teacher Attitudes, Student Attitudes, Cultural Awareness, Multicultural Education, Teaching Methods, Foreign Students, Communicative Competence (Languages), Peer Relationship, Story Telling, College Students, Student Participation, College School Cooperation, Story Reading
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Taiwan
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Mandarin Learning and Education Center, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung City, Taiwan (R.O.C.); 2Guest Research Professor Emeritus, Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski, Sofia, Bulgaria