ERIC Number: EJ1179851
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0790-8318
EISSN: N/A
An Online Chinese-Australian Language and Cultural Exchange through Digital Storytelling
Language, Culture and Curriculum, v31 n2 p128-149 2018
In a 2013-2014 Australia-China Council project, middle school students in Australia and China shared digital stories about their everyday lives and local cultures, and traditional tales with a modern twist. This article reports on research that aimed to explore the successes and challenges associated with this digital story exchange between Australia and China as a pedagogical approach to support language learning and intercultural understanding. An interpretivist approach was taken, focusing on the perspectives of the teachers. According to the teachers, the exchange was successful to a degree in supporting students' learning in the areas of language, intercultural understanding and twenty-first-century skills, including digital literacies and technological skills, and helped teachers extend their pedagogical horizons. A number of challenges also arose. Analysis of interview data revealed that both the successes and challenges fell into four interrelated domains, which we have labelled structures, practices, capabilities and technologies. This article offers new insights into the exchange of multimodal digital stories as learning activities in the Australian-Chinese context and provides recommendations to guide educators in these four domains.
Descriptors: Middle School Students, Story Telling, Computer Mediated Communication, International Educational Exchange, Intercultural Communication, Learning Activities, Foreign Countries, Teaching Methods, Teacher Attitudes, Cultural Awareness, Technological Literacy, Interviews, Program Descriptions, Middle School Teachers, Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Chinese, English (Second Language), Communicative Competence (Languages), Faculty Development, Language Proficiency, Qualitative Research, Structured Interviews, Observation
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Middle Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China; Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A