Analysis of the learner content creation process in a 1:1 seamless idiom learning environment

Abstract

This paper reports a pilot study on mobile-assisted language learning that focused on both creative learner output and seamless learning. In learning Chinese idioms, students proactively used smartphones on a 1:1 basis to take photos in their daily lives, subsequently in-class or online sharing and discussions took place, enhancing the students’ understanding in the proper usage of the idioms. Our analysis of the student artefacts in both product- and process-oriented aspects reveals the students’ cognitive process and learning strategies during the course of content creation. The students’ ongoing, open-ended, personal-to-social meaning making process and learner-created authentic content have indeed shown some indicators of seamless language learning and induction-based peer learning that has the potential of transforming language learning into an authentic learning experience.