Background: Teaching Mandarin as a second language (L2) has become an important profession and an important research area. The acquisition of unaspirated and aspirated consonants in Mandarin has been reported to be rather challenging for L2 learners. Objectives: In the current study, a 3-D airflow model was integrated into the virtual talking head…

Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is the ability to interact and communicate appropriately with people from different cultures. The lack of ICC among non-native speakers has resulted in misunderstandings during interactions. Although Malaysia is a multicultural country, there has not been much emphasis in developing ICC in the…

The acquisition of Chinese characters has been widely acknowledged as challenging for learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) due to their unique logographic nature and the time and effort involved. However, recent advancements in instructional technologies demonstrate a promising role in facilitating the teaching and learning of Chinese…

Eye-tracking is primarily used as a tool to capture attentional processes in second language (L2) research. However, it is feasible to design visual displays that can react to and interact with eye-movements in technology-mediated contexts. We explored whether gaze-contingency can foster L2 development by drawing attention to novel words…

This research aimed to (1) develop and measure the efficiency of a set of reading and pronunciation skills in Chinese phonetics via Seesaw online classroom; (2) examine the effectiveness of the set; and (3) evaluate students' satisfaction with practice packages on Chinese pronunciation via Seesaw online classroom. Thirty-six undergraduate students…

Mandarin Chinese is an increasingly popular world language and object of study, and while there are numerous online character learning apps and flashcard systems, very little research has been done on inductive or autonomous learning in the realm of collocation acquisition. I propose a new Chinese implementation of a trusted corpus-based platform,…

This study investigates how university students taking fully online language-learning configure their learning environments to enhance opportunities for learning and meet broader academic and social-emotional needs. The study adopts a view of learning as both physically and socially situated, acknowledging that the physical (material, digital and…

This research analyzes the acoustic characteristics and conducts a perception test of Thai tones produced by Chinese learners learning Thai through the "Thai Tone Application". A comparison of Thai tones pronounced by 40 Chinese learners learning Thai at Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University with 40 Thai native speakers was also…

The current study investigates the effects of more explicit versus more implicit corrective feedback on beginner Mandarin learners' perception and production of Mandarin tones. The effects of oral corrective feedback have been extensively investigated for various domains of second language acquisition (see Mackey & Goo, 2007). For phonological…

Touch screen tablets such as iPads are becoming increasingly popular as educational tools to support children's first language learning in pre-schools. Apps can also be used to support early learning of a second language in English-speaking countries. However, little work has been done to evaluate these apps. The present research developed…

Recent studies on the learning of L2 prosody have suggested that pitch gestures can enhance the learning of the L2 lexical tones. Yet it remains unclear whether the use of these gestures can aid the learning of L2 intonation, especially by tonal-language speakers. Sixty-four Mandarin speakers with basic-level Spanish were asked to learn three…

Online kindergarten to twelfth grade (K-12) language learners have usually been found to hold more negative perceptions of their courses and to perform less well academically than their face-to-face counterparts, despite the well-attested benefits of computer-mediated communication in language learning. In an attempt to improve upon such outcomes,…

The study aimed at enhancing Chinese as a second language (CSL) students' listening comprehension by using authentic contexts in Second Life (SL). Twenty-seven CSL students from 4 countries participated in the 6-week study. A within-subject design was adopted to confirm the effects of 3D immersive experiences on CSL students' listening…

This paper explores the intersection of new speakers in conditions of globalisation led mobility and it investigates the implications the phenomena may have for language policy making. It first describes two historical phases in language policy development that are closely related to a sociolinguistics of stability. In this, it criticises how…

In the present day Mandarin Chinese has become a commonly taught language in the U.S. Mandarin is widely taught in colleges and universities; K-12 Chinese programs, including immersion programs, have also grown rapidly. However, to date little research has been conducted on the latter programs. This study examines immersion programs in elementary…