Article published In: Chinese as a Second Language (漢語教學研究—美國中文教師學會學報)
Vol. 51:2 (2016) ► pp.164–190
Killing two birds with one stone? Turning CFL learners into book writers
An exploratory study
Published online: 20 October 2016
https://doi.org/10.1075/csl.51.2.03zha
https://doi.org/10.1075/csl.51.2.03zha
Two problems often emerge in the process of learning Chinese. First, learning to write at the beginning stage often focuses on forms, without an authentic purpose. As a result, learners do not have enough motivation to write. Second, while extensive reading benefits language learners, not many extensive reading materials are available to beginning and lower-intermediate level CFL learners. This empirical study examined the feasibility of incorporating a writing project into the curriculum, as well as the potential impact of such a project on learners’ reading and writing progress. A total of 89 learners participated in this study. The findings show that the participants who wrote books and those who read the books both enjoyed and benefited from the project.
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