Browsing by Author "White, Cynthia"
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- ItemThe dynamics of willingness to communicate in synchronous Chinese online language teaching and learning : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Linguistics at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand(Massey University, 2023) Huang, HuanWhile there has been growing academic attention to researching the dynamics in willingness to communicate (WTC), the variability in learners’ WTC over different timescales has remained relatively under-researched, particularly in online language learning contexts. Although research on the dynamics of WTC has largely drawn from the learners’ perspectives, little attention has been paid to individual learners’ WTC by focusing on the perceptions of both the teachers and the learners. This study was carried out in a one-to-one Chinese language learning videoconferencing setting, where one tutor was partnered with one learner (four pairs in total) undertaking five or ten sessions, each lasting 20 minutes. This Synchronous Chinese Online Language Teaching (SCOLT) project, jointly offered by Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) and Massey University (MU), was purposefully built to support adult distance language learners of Chinese in New Zealand in experiencing learner-centred, personalised language learning in online environments. The study aims to explore the unique experience of each learner and to understand their WTC in Chinese (WTCC) across different timescales, including over single interactions, single sessions, and a series of sessions. Taking into account multidimensional factors affecting learners’ WTCC, the tutors’ and learners’ perceptions across different timescales were also examined. Informed by Complex Dynamic System Theory (CDST), this study employed a qualitative longitudinal case study research design. Multiple methods were applied for data collection, including the idiodynamic method, the experience sampling method (ESM), journals, the Session-based WTCC scales, stimulated recalls based on the learning session recordings, and a pre-session questionnaire. In order to portray insights about WTCC within each dyad, this study also conducted the idiodynamic method with the tutors to collect their views about their learners’ WTCC during communicative activities. Findings suggest how learners’ WTCC on multiple timescales fluctuated during Chinese language communication activities. Learners’ WTCC changed and stabilised over time, emerging from their interactions with the tutors, and the online environment. Furthermore, the dynamic and non-linear nature of learners’ WTCC also appeared in micro timescales, such as minutes and seconds, which were influenced by the complex interplay of the individual (learners’ self-perceived communicative competence, negative and positive emotions); the situational (topic-related factors, tutor-related variables, and the multimodality); and learners’ agency to reinforce or resist the impacts of the factors at a specific time. The four learners showed quite different dynamics in WTCC, highlighting the uniqueness of individuals and the inherent complexity of WTCC systems. In addition, tutors’ and learners’ perceptions of learners’ WTCC became more consistent over time with a desire to build and maintain the relationship and to select communication topics convergent with learners’ communication needs. However, the respective ratings did not always match due to the complex and dynamic nature of learners’ WTCC. This study contributes to the literature in the field of learners’ WTC research by extending our understanding of the dynamics of learners’ WTCC in online Chinese language learning context. Based on the findings, this study has implications for research methodology and theoretical frames, shedding light on how learners’ WTCC change at different timescales. Implications for online language learning and teaching are identified which can inform one-to-one contexts, teacher training and future research.
- ItemHe kākano nō te taunuke o te hue : he tuhinga roa hai whakatutuki i ngā tikanga o Te Tohu Kairangi i Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa, Papaioea, Aotearoa(Massey University, 2022) Black, HonaNō roto i ēneki tau tata nei kua kaha kē atu te pihi ake o te pūkōnohinohi a ētahi kia whakamāuitia ō rātau tūreo ā-iwi, otirā, kia mōhiotia tō rātau iwitanga i tō rātau reo. Hoi anō, tēraka hoki ētahi e whakapae ana he nenekara noa te whakamāui i ēneki reo, ā, me mātua aro kē tātau ki te whakamāui i te reo Māori whānui. Ko tā tēneki rangahau he urupare i ētahi o ngā urupounamu kua pihi ake i ēneki take, i ēneki whakataunga e hāngai ana ki te tūreo o Tūhoe. Mātua o ēneki urupounamu ko ēneki nā, he aha tēneki reo te tūreo o Tūhoe?, he wāhi nui tonu ōna mō ōna uri, haere ake nei?, he aha ōna āhuatanga kua rerekē i roto i ngā tau? Hai āpititanga atu ki ēneki urupounamu, i te nui o ngā uri o Tūhoe kai tawhiti i ōna maunga, ka uia anō te urupounamu, me pēhea e ora ai te tūreo o Tūhoe i ngā kāinga ōna kai tawhiti i ōna maunga? Hai urupare i ēneki urupounamu i nanaioretia ngā ariā Kaupapa Māori, Tūhoetanga me te rangatiratanga hai tūāpapa mōna. Ka mutu, i nanaioretia ngā tikanga pūrākau hai uiui i ētahi pākeke o Tūhoe i pakeke ake i roto i tēraka reo me tētahi whānau kai tawhiti i ōna maunga. Me te aha ko ngā kai i hua ake i ēneki nohonga tahitanga e aronui ana ki 1) te hira o te tūreo o Tūhoe ki ōna uri, 2) ōna motuhaketanga, 3) te tipu o tēneki tūreo, otirā, 4) te wāhi ki te tūreo ā-iwi me te reo Māori, haere ake nei. Hai āpititanga atu, ko ngā kōrero mō ngā rautaki whakamāui i te reo whānui me te tūreo ā-iwi i ōna kāinga maha, ahakoa tata, ahakoa tawhiti.
- ItemInnovation and identity in distance language learning and teaching(Multilingual Matters, 2007) White, CynthiaInnovation in distance language learning and teaching has largely focused on developments in technology and the increased opportunities they provide for negotiation and control of learning experiences, for participating in collaborative learning environments and the development of interactive competence in the target language. Much less attention has been paid to pedagogical innovation and still less to how congruence develops between particular pedagogical approaches, various technologies and the skills, practices, actions and identities of language learners and teachers. In this article I explore the process of innovation in distance language teaching from the point of view of key participants in the process, the teachers, and the ways in which their identities are disrupted and challenged as they enter new distance teaching environments. Innovative approaches to distance language teaching are analysed for the insights they provide into the sites of conflict and struggle experienced by teachers, experiences which have a major impact on their selves as distance teachers and on the course of innovation. To conclude I argue that attention to issues of identity can deepen our understanding of innovation, of the tensions that are played out in the experiences and responses of teachers, and of the ways they accept or resist the identity shifts required of them.
- ItemPositive emotions in English language learning in the Vietnamese tertiary contexts : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Linguistics at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand(Massey University, 2023) Nguyen, Thi Anh HongThis thesis explores the emotions students experienced during their English language learning trajectories in the Vietnamese tertiary context. It specifically focuses on the students’ positive emotions and on the role of hope as a mediating factor in triggering shifts in students’ emotions from negative to positive. Drawing on a sociocultural approach, this study explores the contribution of positive emotions in their English language learning. This qualitative study aims to contribute to our understanding of the complexity, diversity, and dynamics of emotions in English language learning as well as the role of Vietnamese culture in the emotions students experienced. The study is based on written narratives and interviews with students taking English language courses within three affiliated universities in Vietnam. The data were obtained from a total of 185 written narrative responses and 10 student interviews. Narrative analysis (Barkhuizen et al., 2013) was used to analyse small stories in the written narratives and thematic analysis (Talmy, 2010) was used for analysing the interview data. The findings indicate that both positive and negative emotions co-existed in the students’ English language learning experiences. The range of activity-related, success-linked, and failure-linked emotions highlighted by the findings illustrate that activity-related emotions such as enjoyment and excitement positively triggered students’ engagement, while negative emotions such as boredom negatively impacted it. Success-linked emotions originated from students’ self-assessed successes in meeting personal study or learning goals, their parents’ or teachers’ expectations, or the standards imposed by the community or society as a whole, with positive achievement emotions strongly associated with positive outcomes. In contrast, failure-linked emotions were associated with the students’ failure in achieving personal targets and in meeting the expectations others had of them, their recognition of their own shortcomings in relation to accepted social standards, or from negative evaluations from other people. Importantly, the findings showed that emotions are socially and culturally constructed, and in particular associated with the features of the local Confucian cultural heritage. Overall, the thesis illustrates the role of people living around students or in interactions with them in the emergence and development of emotions associated with English language learning. Finally, hope, as an emotion, emerged as playing a significant role in the transition between negative and positive emotions. The insights of the study contribute to the theory of emotions in language learning by delineating in detail the close and reciprocal relationship between emotions, self-efficacy and motivation, and by providing evidence of the role of hope in motivating students. It also contributes to our understanding of the role cultural factors play in shaping students’ emotions. The findings have implications for policymakers, educational trainers, school managers, teachers, parents, and language learners.
- ItemTeacher agency in synchronous one-to-one Chinese online language teaching : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Linguistics at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand(Massey University, 2022) Dai, ChujieThis study explores the teacher agency of four Chinese language teachers who teach in one-to-one videoconferencing settings. Since these teachers only had limited teaching experience in such a context, four preparatory workshops were designed for the teacher participants before they began teaching. The study seeks to answer three questions: 1) What kinds of competencies did teachers identify as required in their teaching via one-to-one videoconferencing? 2) What kinds of affordances and constraints did teachers perceive in teaching, and how was their agency influenced by these factors? 3) What was the main value of the preparatory workshops from the teachers’ perspective? The study is informed by ecological perspectives and employs a qualitative longitudinal case study approach. The data collected through teaching recordings, stimulated recall interviews, semi-structured interviews and group discussions formed the main data set. The data collected through a teacher questionnaire, written reflection sheets, opinion frames, and text chat on a social media platform formed the supporting data set. The main part of the study, spanning about eight months, comprised three stages. At the first stage, there were four teacher preparatory workshops, each including a lecture and a group discussion. At the second stage, each teacher conducted a series of Chinese learning sessions with a single learner, which were recorded and analysed. At the third stage, semi-structured interviews with individual teachers were conducted. The findings suggest that the teachers identified four important competencies required for online teaching: pedagogical competency, multimedia competency, social-affective competency and the competency of being reflective and reflexive. Different beliefs about teacher roles, perceived social hierarchy, and their relationships with peer teachers and the learners were the factors that enabled or constrained teachers’ actions. The perceived value of the teacher preparatory workshops was in providing opportunities for the teachers to bridge the gap between theories and teaching practice and to explore the pedagogical possibilities. They collectively formed an idealised notion of online teaching as a result of their discussions and this notion influenced their identity and teaching practice. The study concludes with implications for research methodology and a theoretical frame, shedding light on how the factors from the outer world, and teachers’ experience and aspirations could impact the enactment of agency. It is hoped that this study will be valuable for future online language teacher training and research.