Mobile learning-Podcasting for Chinese language learning

Mobile learning has become possible with the rise of modern technology. Some studies of podcasting in language teaching and learning have thus far been conducted on European languages; whereas nearly none has been done on the Chinese language. The Chinese Language Programme of the Centre for Languages Studies at the National University of Singapore started a developmental project on podcasting in September 2009. This project intends to explore the possibilities and implications of podcasting technologies in Chinese language teaching and learning, namely how podcasting technologies can be harnessed to create supplementary podcast lessons, and how effective it is to strengthen learners' listening and speaking skills, and their knowledge of sentence structures. There are 200 students from beginner and intermediate Chinese courses involved in this project. This paper will look at the background of the podcast project, the pedagogical considerations behind the design of the podcast lessons, and the included learning contents. It will also report on the results of the analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data.