Classroom research on Mandarin Foreign Language Learning Via Smartphone Applications

Abstract Mandarin is the most sought-after language due to its rapid economic development. Simultaneously, Mandarin is also becoming arguably the most difficult language in the world especially for those who are not used to the tonal language. Today, the speedy development of the internet and advanced technology has transformed Mandarin educators to accommodate innovation in pedagogy occasioned by the worldwide demand for the acquisition of Mandarin as a foreign language by non-native speakers. Thus, this action research is to investigate to what extent smartphone applications, the latest mobile technology could impact teacher’s pedagogical practice and students’ oral performances. One class of Mandarin non-native learners participated in the study. The triangulation method was used in collecting data. The data from students’ diaries, teacher’s self-reflective journals, focus group interviews and oral assessment were analysed through content and thematic analysis to gauge the impact of the technology integration. The results revealed that, over a four-week intervention period, the students viewed their Mandarin pronunciation and confidence level of oral had improved. But they contradicted the result of oral assessment. In short, Mobile-Assisted Language Learning is a potential approach to address the difficulty of Mandarin. However, to make it a success, the existence factors which facilitated and hindered students’ performance during the technology integration instruction were the most crucial.