Chin Hsi Lin

Learning in One-to-One Laptop Environments: A Meta-Analysis and Research Synthesis

Over the past decade, the number of one-to-one laptop programs in schools has steadily increased. Despite the growth of such programs, there is little consensus about whether they contribute to improved educational outcomes. This article reviews 65 journal articles and 31 doctoral dissertations published from January 2001 to May 2015 to examine the effect of one-to-one laptop programs on teaching and learning in K–12 schools. A meta-analysis of 10 studies examines the impact of laptop programs on students’ academic achievement, finding significantly positive average effect sizes in English, writing, mathematics, and science. In addition, the article summarizes the impact of laptop programs on more general teaching and learning processes and perceptions as reported in these studies, again noting generally positive findings.

Improving the English-speaking skills of young learners through mobile social networking

ABSTRACT Most students of English as a foreign language (EFL) lack sufficient opportunities to practice their English-speaking skills. However, the recent development of social-networking sites (SNSs) and mobile learning, and especially mobile-assisted language learning, represents new opportunities for these learners to practice speaking English in a meaningful way. This study integrated a mobile SNS into first-grade EFL classes in China, with the aim of determining its effects on the students’ speaking skills. Two classes were recruited, one as a control group that did not use the SNS, and the other as the experimental group, which did. While both classes’ speaking skills improved between pretest and posttest, the gains in English fluency by the experimental group were significantly larger. Progress in accuracy and pronunciation, on the other hand, were similar across the two groups. These findings are discussed in relation to specific characteristics of SNSs and mobile learning that enable learners to speak in low-stress, situated contexts.

Chinese Language Teachers’ Perceptions of Technology and Instructional Use of Technology: A Path Analysis:

This study examined internal and external factors affecting pedagogical use of technology among 47 K–12 Chinese language teachers in the United States. Path analysis of the survey data was used to examine the relationships between the teachers’ instructional use of technology, on the one hand, and on the other, their perceptions of three internal factors (i.e., technology’s usefulness, its ease of use, and subjective norms) and one external factor (i.e., facilitating conditions). The results showed that these teachers’ pedagogical use of technology could be predicted by two of the three internal factors (i.e., perceived usefulness and subjective norms) and by the external factor. Additionally, the external factor was found to have a significant influence on both perceived ease of use and subjective norms.

Pedagogical beliefs and attitudes toward information and communication technology: a survey of teachers of English as a foreign language in China

ABSTRACT Though pedagogical beliefs have been identified as critical factors in the success of technology integration, very few studies have included them in technology-adoption models. The present study revises the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by adding teachers’ pedagogical beliefs, and tests the revised model among university-level English-as-a-foreign- language (EFL) teachers in China. Specifically, the revised model examines how teachers’ constructivist and/or transmissive pedagogical beliefs influence four key constructs of the TAM: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude toward use, and intention to use. Survey data were collected from 202 Chinese EFL teachers and analyzed using path analysis. The revised model showed a good model fit. The results indicated that the sampled teachers’ pedagogical beliefs were more constructivist-oriented than transmissive-oriented, and that the former type of beliefs had a significant positive influence on three of the above-mentioned TAM constructs (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and attitude toward use). Teachers’ transmissive pedagogical beliefs, on the other hand, did not have any significant impact on their attitudes toward information and communication technology (ICT) or their perceptions of its usefulness, though such beliefs did significantly affect their perceptions of how easy ICT was to use. Implications of these findings for teacher education and professional training are discussed.

Pinyin or no pinyin: does access to word pronunciation matter in the assessment of Chinese learners’ vocabulary knowledge?

ABSTRACT This study examined the impact of providing access to word pronunciation on the assessment of L2 Chinese learners’ vocabulary knowledge. Chinese heritage learners (HLs) and foreign language learners (FLs) studying in American universities undertook a computer-based test in which they had first to select a picture that represented the meaning of a target word presented in characters only, and then answer the same item presented in both characters and pinyin (i.e. the alphabetic system to facilitate the pronunciation of characters). The provision of pinyin substantially increased the test reliability for both groups of learners but the differences between the no-pinyin and pinyin conditions were less marked for FLs than HLs. In the no-pinyin condition, the groups showed no significant score difference, whereas in the pinyin condition, HLs significantly outperformed FLs. The proportion of HLs who successfully corrected their original choices following provision of pinyin was also notably higher. These findings suggest that provision of pinyin impacted the two groups differentially. Implications for vocabulary knowledge assessment for different types of Chinese learners are discussed.