Title: The effects of mobile learning on students' oral performance in Mandarin Chinese and their attitudes

Authors: Yen-Ting Lin; Chia-Ling Kao; Yu-Ju Lan

Addresses: Department of Applied Chinese Language and Culture, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan ' Department of Applied Chinese Language and Culture, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan ' Department of Applied Chinese Language and Culture, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan

Abstract: This study aimed at exploring whether a language learner's level could influence the effectiveness of using a mobile device on the oral output and the attitudes of learning Mandarin Chinese. The participants were 34 overseas Chinese students, aged between 17 and 23. They were randomly assigned to two groups: the Real-World-Context group and the Classroom-Context group. The participants in the former group visited shops on the streets of Taipei, Taiwan. During the activity, they could receive multimedia learning materials through mobile devices. On the other hand, the participants of the latter group stayed in a situated classroom set as a street, and their learning materials were printed on the paper. In this group, some students acted as the shopkeepers, while others acted as the customers. The results showed that in the Real-World-Context group, the learners' Mandarin levels played a part in deciding the range of improvements and the attitudes.

Keywords: MALL; context-aware technology; immersive learning; Mandarin Chinese; CSL; oral communication; learning motivation; language learning; mobile learning; m-learning; student performance; student attitudes; Taiwan; mobile devices; multimedia learning.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMLO.2016.076191

International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation, 2016 Vol.10 No.1/2, pp.78 - 101

Received: 10 Dec 2015
Accepted: 23 Feb 2016
Published online: 28 Apr 2016 *

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