Background
In a time of rapid technological change, there is a need to provide students with rele... more Background In a time of rapid technological change, there is a need to provide students with relevant learning opportunities to support the development of their transferable skills.
Purpose Set in a higher education context in Taiwan, this study sought to investigate how students perceived their engagement with a task-based, multimedia project within an English as a foreign language (EFL) course.
Method Participants were 73 third-year undergraduate university students who were engaged in an 18-week task-based video-making project as part of the EFL course. Data, which were analysed qualitatively, included students’ reflective essays and post-course transcribed interviews with 15 of the students.
Findings Overall, the students felt that participating in the task-based project had enhanced their literacy competencies through the process of gathering relevant information; supported their learning motivation and engagement as they sought to discover the necessary resources to generate their videos; and fostered their awareness of how they could apply the knowledge and skills they developed in the course to new contexts.
Conclusions Task-based, digital projects can provide one way of helping students to develop transferable skills. As technology continues to evolve, this study highlights the need to consider more fully, in the context of tertiary education, how best to support students to acquire and hone the competencies that they will require in employment.
Underpinned by [Bhabha, H. K. (2004). The location of culture (2nd ed).
Routledge.] conceptualiza... more Underpinned by [Bhabha, H. K. (2004). The location of culture (2nd ed). Routledge.] conceptualizations of the “third space,” this study is a qualitative exploration of an attempt to create an intervening telecollaborative “third space” for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in a Taiwan university. Students were engaged in language exchange with foreign language learning peers in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) and critical reflection on their own cultural norms and values. Data consisted of summative and formative assessments documented in E-portfolios and reflective essays by EFL learners who participated in the telecollaboration. Findings showed that 97% of the EFL learners agreed that telecollaboration should be part of language exchange programs. Through the affordance of the “third space,” EFL learners were able not only to practice the target language through interaction, but also to build their confidence by critically engaging with individuals from different linguistic and sociocultural backgrounds and expressing their thoughts and idea. The telecollaboration also enhanced EFL learners’ intercultural knowledge beyond generic understandings attached to particular countries and nations. Implications for practice and suggestions for future studies are discussed
This paper explores the construction and practice of the purposes of teacher education in Aotearo... more This paper explores the construction and practice of the purposes of teacher education in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) and Taiwan. The paper begins with a brief overview of contemporary issues underlying the education system in both countries. It then investigates the underlying assumption of student achievement before moving on to reconceptualise the purposes of education, and consequently, teacher education with the aims of remedying existing social and cultural gaps in both societies, as well as laying the path for a more diverse society for all. Underpinned within a social constructivist paradigm, the qualitative study explores how teacher education can, and needs to be, more equitable and responsive to the learning outcomes of students – in terms of diversity and difference – in Aotearoa NZ and Taiwan.
Developing curricula that responds to the demand for internationalisation in higher education ins... more Developing curricula that responds to the demand for internationalisation in higher education institutions (HEIs) has been gaining wide attention around the world. Taiwan, a country that houses more than 100 HEIs, is a keen member in joining the bandwagon of academic internationalisation. This paper explores the learning process and perceived benefits, as narrated by students from one HEI course, directed at developing students’ local cultural knowledge and global competencies, such as English and technological proficiency, through the means of video-making. An added objective of the course was for students to enter their completed videos to the Bilingual Video Competition hosted by a national university in central Taiwan. Findings from the study demonstrated that through the course, students have not only gained a stronger foothold of their cultural identity and English and digital literacy skills, but the process of the project has also led them to become more agentic, and to recognise the importance of team work and collaboration. Suggestions for future studies will be discussed.
JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION, 2020
Video-making projects have often been used to facilitate English as a
Foreign Language (EFL) stud... more Video-making projects have often been used to facilitate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ active application of target language acquired in classroom settings to authentic learning environments. However, few empirical studies have focused on how the activity can foster and enhance EFL students’ writing skills. Fifty-seven EFL students participated in an 18-week study to investigate how employing different modes have enhanced their English writing skills. Data comprised (a) preand post-English writing tests and (b) reflective essays. Findings from the study demonstrated that students learned to be more inventive and skillful at utilizing different modes in meaning-making, as well as to be more selfregulated and conscious of diverse contexts and perspectives. Implications of the study are discussed.
Intracultural learning has been neglected in English curricula in Taiwan
since textbooks as an im... more Intracultural learning has been neglected in English curricula in Taiwan since textbooks as an important learning resource have been mainly focused on English linguistic content and developing students’ language skills and and target culture to develop students’ language skill. This study investigated how making VR content helped students enhance their intracultural learning. This study engaged 60 advanced Taiwanese EFL college students in VR content making. The results demonstrated that students developed better intracultural awareness through the features of VR technology including panorama, audio, interaction, and structuring. Further discussions were provided to explain how each of these four features enhanced students’ local cultural learning.
International Journal of Inclusive Education, 2019
The paper explores the development and facilitation of a new initial teacher education (ITE) prog... more The paper explores the development and facilitation of a new initial teacher education (ITE) programme underpinned by critical perspectives. It looks at the past and existing influences that have shaped the ways schooling is understood and operationalised in Aotearoa New Zealand. Through an 11-month ethnographic case study approach, the paper discusses an investigation of how a cohort of teacher educators attempt to highlight and deconstruct inequities underlying contemporary educational practices to student teachers. The purpose is to prepare emergent teachers who will be socially conscious of the purposes of education and to reconceptualise teaching with the learning outcomes of classroom students at the centre of education.
This paper seeks to investigate constraints and opportunities underlying the development of a new... more This paper seeks to investigate constraints and opportunities underlying the development of a new initial teacher education (ITE) programme with the goal of reconceptualising what inclusive education might mean in the Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) education system. The opportunity to develop this new ITE programme emerged from a request of the Ministry of Education [MoE. 2013. Request for Application for Provision of Exemplary Post Graduate Initial Teacher Education (ITE) Programmes. Welington: Author] to ITE providers to develop a Masters’ level programme directed at intervening in the persistent disparity in educational outcomes for students identified as ‘priority learners’. How teaching practitioners are ‘working the space’ in the creation and implementation of a new ITE programme committed to improving the learning outcomes of all students in Aotearoa NZ is of interest to this paper. We draw on critical discourse analysis (CDA) to investigate the ways inclusion is constructed and practised in past and current educational approaches in Aotearoa NZ. We argue that a broader analysis of the shifting nature and complex social, cultural, historical, political and institutional contexts in which students are situated is required in reforms and initiatives that aim to raise the learning outcomes of all students in the education system.
An ethnographic account of the author's participation
in the first International Piano Festival ... more An ethnographic account of the author's participation
in the first International Piano Festival for the
Disabled in Japan in January 2005
Attention to the specific interests and needs of varying demographic groups can increase engageme... more Attention to the specific interests and needs of varying demographic groups can increase engagement in volunteering and also diversify this important activity. Inclusive volunteering can enable members of groups that are often excluded from full social citizenship to challenge stereotypical images of themselves as recipients, rather than givers, of aid. In this literature review, we consider the value and different needs of four demographic groups within volunteering: baby boomers, students/ younger people, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. We conclude that inclusive practice can strengthen volunteer organisations’ abilities to serve diverse communities’ needs, while also building social capital and community resilience.
A literature review of Best Practices for Disaster Recovery and Volunteering conducted as part of... more A literature review of Best Practices for Disaster Recovery and Volunteering conducted as part of an Internship Programme between the University of Canterbury and Volunteering Canterbury.
This chapter is part of a doctoral study that seeks to explore how one initial teacher education ... more This chapter is part of a doctoral study that seeks to explore how one initial teacher education (ITE) programme in Aotearoa New Zealand attempted to facilitate an ITE programme in response to the pursuit of inclusivity from the Ministry of Education (MoE). Grounded in the methodology of ethnographic case study, this exploration is informed through the theoretical lens of critical discourse analysis (CDA). This chapter focuses on how two teacher educators in this ITE programme ‘work the space’ to effect change through critically examining and reconceptualising existing dominant approaches and understandings about teacher and learning to situate learning acquisition in the local sociocultural context of the students in Aotearoa New Zealand. If the supposition that the ongoing disparity in educational outcomes is the product of human intervention that has prevented some students from being fully included in the education system, then this chapter argues that such discursive practices can also be changed through human intervention.
In this paper, we outline a theoretical framework for thinking further about belonging and inclus... more In this paper, we outline a theoretical framework for thinking further about belonging and inclusion by considering the potential of intersectionality theory and the concept of difference. How the simultaneous effects of race, class, ethnicity, gender, citizenship status, disability and categorisation impact on marginalised subjectivities, and how this fits within inclusive discourses is of interest here. The purpose of this article is to contribute to equity scholarship by proposing how theory might help us to think about inclusion differently. The purpose of this article is to contribute to equity scholarship by proposing how theory might help us to think about inclusion differently. The terms ‘belonging’ and ‘inclusion’ often assume the notion of joining the mainstream, this presupposes a ‘norm’ in which something or someone has to belong or be included into. This article investigates how belonging and inclusion might be otherwise reconstructed by employing theory that serves to frame the discourse differently.
Background
In a time of rapid technological change, there is a need to provide students with rele... more Background In a time of rapid technological change, there is a need to provide students with relevant learning opportunities to support the development of their transferable skills.
Purpose Set in a higher education context in Taiwan, this study sought to investigate how students perceived their engagement with a task-based, multimedia project within an English as a foreign language (EFL) course.
Method Participants were 73 third-year undergraduate university students who were engaged in an 18-week task-based video-making project as part of the EFL course. Data, which were analysed qualitatively, included students’ reflective essays and post-course transcribed interviews with 15 of the students.
Findings Overall, the students felt that participating in the task-based project had enhanced their literacy competencies through the process of gathering relevant information; supported their learning motivation and engagement as they sought to discover the necessary resources to generate their videos; and fostered their awareness of how they could apply the knowledge and skills they developed in the course to new contexts.
Conclusions Task-based, digital projects can provide one way of helping students to develop transferable skills. As technology continues to evolve, this study highlights the need to consider more fully, in the context of tertiary education, how best to support students to acquire and hone the competencies that they will require in employment.
Underpinned by [Bhabha, H. K. (2004). The location of culture (2nd ed).
Routledge.] conceptualiza... more Underpinned by [Bhabha, H. K. (2004). The location of culture (2nd ed). Routledge.] conceptualizations of the “third space,” this study is a qualitative exploration of an attempt to create an intervening telecollaborative “third space” for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in a Taiwan university. Students were engaged in language exchange with foreign language learning peers in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) and critical reflection on their own cultural norms and values. Data consisted of summative and formative assessments documented in E-portfolios and reflective essays by EFL learners who participated in the telecollaboration. Findings showed that 97% of the EFL learners agreed that telecollaboration should be part of language exchange programs. Through the affordance of the “third space,” EFL learners were able not only to practice the target language through interaction, but also to build their confidence by critically engaging with individuals from different linguistic and sociocultural backgrounds and expressing their thoughts and idea. The telecollaboration also enhanced EFL learners’ intercultural knowledge beyond generic understandings attached to particular countries and nations. Implications for practice and suggestions for future studies are discussed
This paper explores the construction and practice of the purposes of teacher education in Aotearo... more This paper explores the construction and practice of the purposes of teacher education in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) and Taiwan. The paper begins with a brief overview of contemporary issues underlying the education system in both countries. It then investigates the underlying assumption of student achievement before moving on to reconceptualise the purposes of education, and consequently, teacher education with the aims of remedying existing social and cultural gaps in both societies, as well as laying the path for a more diverse society for all. Underpinned within a social constructivist paradigm, the qualitative study explores how teacher education can, and needs to be, more equitable and responsive to the learning outcomes of students – in terms of diversity and difference – in Aotearoa NZ and Taiwan.
Developing curricula that responds to the demand for internationalisation in higher education ins... more Developing curricula that responds to the demand for internationalisation in higher education institutions (HEIs) has been gaining wide attention around the world. Taiwan, a country that houses more than 100 HEIs, is a keen member in joining the bandwagon of academic internationalisation. This paper explores the learning process and perceived benefits, as narrated by students from one HEI course, directed at developing students’ local cultural knowledge and global competencies, such as English and technological proficiency, through the means of video-making. An added objective of the course was for students to enter their completed videos to the Bilingual Video Competition hosted by a national university in central Taiwan. Findings from the study demonstrated that through the course, students have not only gained a stronger foothold of their cultural identity and English and digital literacy skills, but the process of the project has also led them to become more agentic, and to recognise the importance of team work and collaboration. Suggestions for future studies will be discussed.
JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION, 2020
Video-making projects have often been used to facilitate English as a
Foreign Language (EFL) stud... more Video-making projects have often been used to facilitate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ active application of target language acquired in classroom settings to authentic learning environments. However, few empirical studies have focused on how the activity can foster and enhance EFL students’ writing skills. Fifty-seven EFL students participated in an 18-week study to investigate how employing different modes have enhanced their English writing skills. Data comprised (a) preand post-English writing tests and (b) reflective essays. Findings from the study demonstrated that students learned to be more inventive and skillful at utilizing different modes in meaning-making, as well as to be more selfregulated and conscious of diverse contexts and perspectives. Implications of the study are discussed.
Intracultural learning has been neglected in English curricula in Taiwan
since textbooks as an im... more Intracultural learning has been neglected in English curricula in Taiwan since textbooks as an important learning resource have been mainly focused on English linguistic content and developing students’ language skills and and target culture to develop students’ language skill. This study investigated how making VR content helped students enhance their intracultural learning. This study engaged 60 advanced Taiwanese EFL college students in VR content making. The results demonstrated that students developed better intracultural awareness through the features of VR technology including panorama, audio, interaction, and structuring. Further discussions were provided to explain how each of these four features enhanced students’ local cultural learning.
International Journal of Inclusive Education, 2019
The paper explores the development and facilitation of a new initial teacher education (ITE) prog... more The paper explores the development and facilitation of a new initial teacher education (ITE) programme underpinned by critical perspectives. It looks at the past and existing influences that have shaped the ways schooling is understood and operationalised in Aotearoa New Zealand. Through an 11-month ethnographic case study approach, the paper discusses an investigation of how a cohort of teacher educators attempt to highlight and deconstruct inequities underlying contemporary educational practices to student teachers. The purpose is to prepare emergent teachers who will be socially conscious of the purposes of education and to reconceptualise teaching with the learning outcomes of classroom students at the centre of education.
This paper seeks to investigate constraints and opportunities underlying the development of a new... more This paper seeks to investigate constraints and opportunities underlying the development of a new initial teacher education (ITE) programme with the goal of reconceptualising what inclusive education might mean in the Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) education system. The opportunity to develop this new ITE programme emerged from a request of the Ministry of Education [MoE. 2013. Request for Application for Provision of Exemplary Post Graduate Initial Teacher Education (ITE) Programmes. Welington: Author] to ITE providers to develop a Masters’ level programme directed at intervening in the persistent disparity in educational outcomes for students identified as ‘priority learners’. How teaching practitioners are ‘working the space’ in the creation and implementation of a new ITE programme committed to improving the learning outcomes of all students in Aotearoa NZ is of interest to this paper. We draw on critical discourse analysis (CDA) to investigate the ways inclusion is constructed and practised in past and current educational approaches in Aotearoa NZ. We argue that a broader analysis of the shifting nature and complex social, cultural, historical, political and institutional contexts in which students are situated is required in reforms and initiatives that aim to raise the learning outcomes of all students in the education system.
An ethnographic account of the author's participation
in the first International Piano Festival ... more An ethnographic account of the author's participation
in the first International Piano Festival for the
Disabled in Japan in January 2005
Attention to the specific interests and needs of varying demographic groups can increase engageme... more Attention to the specific interests and needs of varying demographic groups can increase engagement in volunteering and also diversify this important activity. Inclusive volunteering can enable members of groups that are often excluded from full social citizenship to challenge stereotypical images of themselves as recipients, rather than givers, of aid. In this literature review, we consider the value and different needs of four demographic groups within volunteering: baby boomers, students/ younger people, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. We conclude that inclusive practice can strengthen volunteer organisations’ abilities to serve diverse communities’ needs, while also building social capital and community resilience.
A literature review of Best Practices for Disaster Recovery and Volunteering conducted as part of... more A literature review of Best Practices for Disaster Recovery and Volunteering conducted as part of an Internship Programme between the University of Canterbury and Volunteering Canterbury.
This chapter is part of a doctoral study that seeks to explore how one initial teacher education ... more This chapter is part of a doctoral study that seeks to explore how one initial teacher education (ITE) programme in Aotearoa New Zealand attempted to facilitate an ITE programme in response to the pursuit of inclusivity from the Ministry of Education (MoE). Grounded in the methodology of ethnographic case study, this exploration is informed through the theoretical lens of critical discourse analysis (CDA). This chapter focuses on how two teacher educators in this ITE programme ‘work the space’ to effect change through critically examining and reconceptualising existing dominant approaches and understandings about teacher and learning to situate learning acquisition in the local sociocultural context of the students in Aotearoa New Zealand. If the supposition that the ongoing disparity in educational outcomes is the product of human intervention that has prevented some students from being fully included in the education system, then this chapter argues that such discursive practices can also be changed through human intervention.
In this paper, we outline a theoretical framework for thinking further about belonging and inclus... more In this paper, we outline a theoretical framework for thinking further about belonging and inclusion by considering the potential of intersectionality theory and the concept of difference. How the simultaneous effects of race, class, ethnicity, gender, citizenship status, disability and categorisation impact on marginalised subjectivities, and how this fits within inclusive discourses is of interest here. The purpose of this article is to contribute to equity scholarship by proposing how theory might help us to think about inclusion differently. The purpose of this article is to contribute to equity scholarship by proposing how theory might help us to think about inclusion differently. The terms ‘belonging’ and ‘inclusion’ often assume the notion of joining the mainstream, this presupposes a ‘norm’ in which something or someone has to belong or be included into. This article investigates how belonging and inclusion might be otherwise reconstructed by employing theory that serves to frame the discourse differently.
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Papers by Leechin Heng
In a time of rapid technological change, there is a need to provide students with relevant learning opportunities to support the development of their transferable skills.
Purpose
Set in a higher education context in Taiwan, this study sought to investigate how students perceived their engagement with a task-based, multimedia project within an English as a foreign language (EFL) course.
Method
Participants were 73 third-year undergraduate university students who were engaged in an 18-week task-based video-making project as part of the EFL course. Data, which were analysed qualitatively, included students’ reflective essays and post-course transcribed interviews with 15 of the students.
Findings
Overall, the students felt that participating in the task-based project had enhanced their literacy competencies through the process of gathering relevant information; supported their learning motivation and engagement as they sought to discover the necessary resources to generate their videos; and fostered their awareness of how they could apply the knowledge and skills they developed in the course to new contexts.
Conclusions
Task-based, digital projects can provide one way of helping students to develop transferable skills. As technology continues to evolve, this study highlights the need to consider more fully, in the context of tertiary education, how best to support students to acquire and hone the competencies that they will require in employment.
Routledge.] conceptualizations of the “third space,” this study is a
qualitative exploration of an attempt to create an intervening
telecollaborative “third space” for English as a Foreign Language (EFL)
learners in a Taiwan university. Students were engaged in language
exchange with foreign language learning peers in Australia and
Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) and critical reflection on their own cultural
norms and values. Data consisted of summative and formative
assessments documented in E-portfolios and reflective essays by EFL
learners who participated in the telecollaboration. Findings showed that
97% of the EFL learners agreed that telecollaboration should be part of
language exchange programs. Through the affordance of the “third
space,” EFL learners were able not only to practice the target language
through interaction, but also to build their confidence by critically
engaging with individuals from different linguistic and sociocultural
backgrounds and expressing their thoughts and idea. The
telecollaboration also enhanced EFL learners’ intercultural knowledge
beyond generic understandings attached to particular countries and
nations. Implications for practice and suggestions for future studies are
discussed
Foreign Language (EFL) students’ active application of target language
acquired in classroom settings to authentic learning environments.
However, few empirical studies have focused on how the activity can foster and enhance EFL students’ writing skills. Fifty-seven EFL students participated in an 18-week study to investigate how employing different
modes have enhanced their English writing skills. Data comprised (a) preand post-English writing tests and (b) reflective essays. Findings from the study demonstrated that students learned to be more inventive and skillful at utilizing different modes in meaning-making, as well as to be more selfregulated and conscious of diverse contexts and perspectives. Implications of the study are discussed.
since textbooks as an important learning resource have been mainly
focused on English linguistic content and developing students’ language
skills and and target culture to develop students’ language skill. This
study investigated how making VR content helped students enhance
their intracultural learning. This study engaged 60 advanced Taiwanese
EFL college students in VR content making. The results demonstrated
that students developed better intracultural awareness through the
features of VR technology including panorama, audio, interaction, and
structuring. Further discussions were provided to explain how each of
these four features enhanced students’ local cultural learning.
in the first International Piano Festival for the
Disabled in Japan in January 2005
Books by Leechin Heng
In a time of rapid technological change, there is a need to provide students with relevant learning opportunities to support the development of their transferable skills.
Purpose
Set in a higher education context in Taiwan, this study sought to investigate how students perceived their engagement with a task-based, multimedia project within an English as a foreign language (EFL) course.
Method
Participants were 73 third-year undergraduate university students who were engaged in an 18-week task-based video-making project as part of the EFL course. Data, which were analysed qualitatively, included students’ reflective essays and post-course transcribed interviews with 15 of the students.
Findings
Overall, the students felt that participating in the task-based project had enhanced their literacy competencies through the process of gathering relevant information; supported their learning motivation and engagement as they sought to discover the necessary resources to generate their videos; and fostered their awareness of how they could apply the knowledge and skills they developed in the course to new contexts.
Conclusions
Task-based, digital projects can provide one way of helping students to develop transferable skills. As technology continues to evolve, this study highlights the need to consider more fully, in the context of tertiary education, how best to support students to acquire and hone the competencies that they will require in employment.
Routledge.] conceptualizations of the “third space,” this study is a
qualitative exploration of an attempt to create an intervening
telecollaborative “third space” for English as a Foreign Language (EFL)
learners in a Taiwan university. Students were engaged in language
exchange with foreign language learning peers in Australia and
Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) and critical reflection on their own cultural
norms and values. Data consisted of summative and formative
assessments documented in E-portfolios and reflective essays by EFL
learners who participated in the telecollaboration. Findings showed that
97% of the EFL learners agreed that telecollaboration should be part of
language exchange programs. Through the affordance of the “third
space,” EFL learners were able not only to practice the target language
through interaction, but also to build their confidence by critically
engaging with individuals from different linguistic and sociocultural
backgrounds and expressing their thoughts and idea. The
telecollaboration also enhanced EFL learners’ intercultural knowledge
beyond generic understandings attached to particular countries and
nations. Implications for practice and suggestions for future studies are
discussed
Foreign Language (EFL) students’ active application of target language
acquired in classroom settings to authentic learning environments.
However, few empirical studies have focused on how the activity can foster and enhance EFL students’ writing skills. Fifty-seven EFL students participated in an 18-week study to investigate how employing different
modes have enhanced their English writing skills. Data comprised (a) preand post-English writing tests and (b) reflective essays. Findings from the study demonstrated that students learned to be more inventive and skillful at utilizing different modes in meaning-making, as well as to be more selfregulated and conscious of diverse contexts and perspectives. Implications of the study are discussed.
since textbooks as an important learning resource have been mainly
focused on English linguistic content and developing students’ language
skills and and target culture to develop students’ language skill. This
study investigated how making VR content helped students enhance
their intracultural learning. This study engaged 60 advanced Taiwanese
EFL college students in VR content making. The results demonstrated
that students developed better intracultural awareness through the
features of VR technology including panorama, audio, interaction, and
structuring. Further discussions were provided to explain how each of
these four features enhanced students’ local cultural learning.
in the first International Piano Festival for the
Disabled in Japan in January 2005