A systematic review of the use of WeChat in teaching Chinese as a foreign language
Liu, WeimingORCID: 0000-0002-2468-6911 and
(2024)
A systematic review of the use of WeChat in teaching Chinese as a foreign language.
Journal of China Computer-Assisted Language Learning
.
ISSN 2748-3479
Over the years, social media have gained popularity as tools for language
teaching. The social media platform WeChat has been employed for teaching Chinese
as a foreign language (TCFL). While studies have investigated the use of WeChat for
TCFL, no systematic reviews have been conducted to provide an overview of existing
research. This review article examines empirical studies on WeChat in TCFL, summarising their main characteristics, findings, and critically assessing the quality and
relevance of the available evidence. Scopus and Web of Science were used as primary
databases for this review. Relevant studies were identified by using keyword sets
such as “WeChat Chinese language”, “WeChat Mandarin”, “WeChat Hanyu” and
“WeChat Putonghua”. The review identified the contexts, research methods and
themes of the selected articles. The main themes include language learning, social
interactions, learner agency and motivation. The paper also discusses the implications of using WeChat for TCFL and highlights areas for future research. It is hoped
that the insights provided here will inform the design and implementation of future
courses that use WeChat or other technology-assisted applications for language
teaching.
Metadata
Item Type:
Article (Published)
Refereed:
Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:
WeChat; Chinese as a foreign language; learner agency; motivation; social
interactions