Polish-Chinese telecollaboration project via QQ

Dr Elżbieta GajekInstitute of Applied Linguistics

University of Warsaw

Institute of Applied LinguisticsUniversity of Warsaw, Poland

School of English and International Studies, University of International Business and Economics in Bejing, China

48 tandems worked together

Aims

• Linguistic: developing confidence in speech• Intercultural: contact with a geographically distant

culture • Technical: developing confidence in the use of ICT for

learning • Professional for pre-service teachers: – Motivational– Experiential– International project work – Innovative approach to teaching

Pedagogical groundConstructivist approach:• Start with student activity • Stimulate cognitive conflict to encourage independent problem solving• Know your students’ schemata• Teaching is more to identify what students think rather than guiding them to guess

what the teacher thinks• Learning is not acquisition of other people’s concepts, but it is negotiation of meaning

and its relation to reality. • Students better remember cognitive procedures how they get to the results than the

results• A substantial part of learning is subconscious, beyond the teacher’s and student’s

control• Mistakes and errors are natural in learning• Planning learning and teaching is designing didactic oppportunities without precise

defining partial effects

Planning

• Time: 10 weeks• Topics: 10 topics suggested by the teachers• Tools: QQ messenger suggested• Evaluation: – Short reports every week (PL students)– Questionnaires (PL and CN students)– Logs with reflections (CN students)

Topics suggested

1. Hobbies2. Campus life3. Holidays4. Cuisine 5. Education 6. Travel7. Leisure activities8. Foreign language learning9. Business10. Employment

Basic topics in all language coursesClose to students’ interests

Any changes or extensions permitted, even encouraged according to the needs of the students

Searching for universal human values Politically sensitive topics not recommended (= forbidden)

Integration

• Students volunteers participated in the project, the othe group got other tasks

• Time difference and regular university classes made the contact hours possible mainly at weekends

• Reports available for all through a discussion forum

• Class discussions, interventions, explanations

Problems

• Technology• Time difference• Engagement• Language• Punctuality

Students’ evaluation

• Quantitative: – Time spent on talking, – Tools used

• Qualitative– Linguistic – Intercultural– Technical – Professional – Personal

Teacher’s evaluation• Effects of teaching– Linguistic– Intercultural– Professional for teachers and translators– Technical– Personal

• Verification of teaching concepts – Constructivist ground in teacher training– Innovative approach to teacher training– Role of cultural diferences in international project work

Awards

European Language Label 2013

Looking for partners

Preferably from Africa

To reduce time differenceTo experience intercultural communication

(with similar linguistic, technical, professional, personal aims)

Thank you