Title: How does mobile learning support second language learning? Evidence from CSL learners' turn construction in online communication

Authors: Haijing Zhang; Cong Wang; Fangwei Huang; Daner Sun

Addresses: Department of Chinese Language Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong ' Department of Chinese Language Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong ' Department of Humanities, School of Chinese as a Second Language, Peking University, Beijing, China ' Department of Mathematics and Information Technology, The Educational University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Abstract: Under global public health emergencies such as COVID-19 and monkeypox, online learning for the second language (L2) has become prevalent, especially mobile learning, which provides a new training form spanning time and space for L2 learners in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Taking the turn construction of learners who learn Chinese as a second language (CSL) as a point cut, this study investigated L2 learners' communication strategies in a mobile learning context through conversation analysis, a qualitative method. The result showed that the CSL learner adopted self-turn construction, co-construction, and turn-taking in online communication. In turn-taking, the CSL learner raised the pitch at the beginning of a new turn to a position higher than the pitch at the end of the previous turn. This study revealed the structure and approach of CSL learners' turn construction in 'talk-in-interaction', enriching the theoretical research of turn construction under the transactional distance theory of L2 learning supported by mobile technologies.

Keywords: mobile learning; L2 learning; Chinese as a second language; CSL learner; turn construction; online communication.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMLO.2024.137627

International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation, 2024 Vol.18 No.2, pp.239 - 266

Received: 25 Aug 2022
Accepted: 30 Nov 2022
Published online: 02 Apr 2024 *

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