18 The Linguist Vol/57 No/4 2018
ciol.org.uk/tl
FEATURES
An app
way to learn
How apps have revolutionised Chinese teaching at Manchester
University's Confucius Institute. By Zhang Weizhi and Luxi Yang
On the outline page, the teacher can upload
the lesson plans and create an information
page, so students can easily find each lesson
and access its Quizlet link, the materials used
in the classroom and any audio files. It is
simple to send a copy of the course to
another instructor, who can start using it
immediately with their own students, editing
it as needed. It is also possible to transfer
ownership of the course to another instructor
without disruption to the students.
Showbie is a paperless classroom that
provides various methods for teachers to give
feedback. They can set up tasks for the whole
academic year in advance, giving students
access to each one at the appropriate time.
Perhaps the most helpful function for
language teachers is the ability to give verbal
feedback (a function that is only available on
the paid version). The image opposite shows
an interaction in which a student has added
I
n recent years, a multitude of apps have
been developed to help with learning
foreign languages, including Duolingo and
Rosetta Stone. Online learning tools, such as
iTunes U and Kahoot, are now widely used in
schools to create and manage courses,
improve student engagement, and make
learning interesting and enjoyable.
As the uptake of Mandarin Chinese
gradually increases in UK schools from Key
Stage 2 (KS2; ages 7-11) to GCSE and A level,
and more professionals choose to learn the
language in order to improve their career
prospects, there is a need to incorporate
technology into the pedagogy of Chinese to
ensure learning is fun and effective. Through
research and extensive practice, the Confucius
Institute (CI) at the University of Manchester
has identified the useful functions of some
popular apps and widely available online
learning tools, and applied them in our daily
teaching and learning, both at secondary-
school level and in adult education.
In the secondary classroom
Zhang Weizhi was seconded to Bolton
School, Greater Manchester by the CI. After
researching the apps available, he chose
three (iTunes U, Showbie and Plickers) to use
in his Mandarin classroom.
iTunes U is an efficient and easy-to-use app
to build up a course and organise materials
in a logical and useful way. Zhang uses it
to organise all his courses and teaching
materials, including PowerPoint presentations,
revision guidelines and wordlists (compiled on
the online learning forum Quizlet). In this way,
his students can find all the lessons they have
learnt, are learning and will learn on iTunes U.
It is very easy to set up a personal course,
and add a compelling course image and
description that sets the course expectations.
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