Learning Chinese through a twenty-first century writing workshop with the integration of mobile technology in a language immersion elementary school

Abstract

Digital mobile devices such as iPads have been around for many years and have been more and more popular in K-12 classrooms. Research has pointed out the advantages of using iPads in classrooms to enhance teaching, engage learning, and promote learning outcomes. iPads have been proven to be a useful and powerful digital mobile device in language learning including speaking, listening, reading, and writing. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether a technology integrated twenty-first century writing workshop had an influence on the ability and attitude towards writing in Chinese for second graders enrolled in the Mandarin Chinese program in a language immersion elementary school. Twenty-four students participated in the study. Recording technology (iPad recording app), an iPad camera, and the Book Creator App were integrated into the twenty-first century writing workshop. A pre-survey, post-survey, and observation were used to collect data. The results of the study confirmed that writing barriers decreased when the Chinese immersion program students utilized iPads in the writing workshop. Also, the writing ability and attitudes of the Chinese immersion program students improved after the completion of their twenty-first century writing workshop.