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This is a qualitative examination of how a Chinese language teacher responded to challenges and developed her agency in a unique teaching and learning environment, termed as the blended classroom. The uniqueness of this classroom lies in its attendance by two cohorts of students at the same time -- a face-to-face and an online group. The online group joined the face-to-face group and the teacher via a synchronous online classroom called Blackboard Collaborate. Through analysing data from the teacher's reflection, face-to-face and email interviews and the recordings of her blended class, this research unfolds a semester-long trajectory of her agency development in the blended classroom. Guided by the Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST), we conclude that teacher agency is a system composed of multi-layers of subsystems and it is a product of the constant interaction amongst these interconnected and interdependent subsystems, with certain subsystems playing a more dominant role than others at a given stage of one's agency development. This finding led to our proposal of a framework of teacher agency system. This research advances our understanding of teacher agency as a system in the context of online and blended learning.

Game-based learning (GBL) has been widely recognised in research, and evidently benefited for learners. However, what GBL is perceived by teachers and learners has been a concern that might impact on quality of teaching and learning in the GBL environment. Game-based pedagogy meticulously designed from a teacher's perspective was regarded as harping on the same string without fun by learners. This paper aims to explore games literacy capabilities in supporting teachers to implement GBL that meets learners' needs and expectations. Semi-structured interviews and surveys with experienced teachers of GBL and experts in the relevant field were conducted, followed by an Analytic Hierarchy Process seeking perceptions of a group of academics and researchers. Findings suggested five key capabilities in game literacy required by teachers in implementing GBL. They are (1) basic games literacy, (2) high-level games literacy, (3) instructional design for GBL, (4) organisation and management for GBL, and (S) evaluation of GBL. Amongst the five, instructional design for GBL and high-level games literacy were rated highly impacting on the quality of teaching. Based on the findings, aiming at informing teacher education and professional development, we proposed a framework providing a guidance to improve game-based design and pedagogical practices for teachers in the implementation of GBL in their classrooms. It concludes that teachers' capabilities in games literacy require specific attention to instructional design -- that demands a thought-provoking process for GBL.

Touch screen tablets such as iPads are becoming increasingly popular as educational tools to support children's first language learning in pre-schools. Apps can also be used to support early learning of a second language in English-speaking countries. However, little work has been done to evaluate these apps. The present research developed criteria for assessing Mandarin learning apps and applied them to evaluate 28 Mandarin apps for English-speaking pre-schoolers. The criteria included the domains of interactivity, usability, cultural awareness, collaboration, language and literacy content, and learning outcomes. The application of the criteria showed that half the Mandarin learning apps lacked key educational features essential for second language learning. The categories in which the apps scored most highly were interactivity, cultural awareness, usability, and language and literacy content. The apps scored lowest in the categories of collaboration and provision of learning outcomes. The findings suggest that further research is needed to inform best practice, app design, and to provide guidelines that help teachers select quality apps to support second language learning.

In the last five years or so, research has extensively explored the benefits and problems of flipped classrooms in helping improve the student learning experience. However, little attention has been given to the kinds of support that students would need in the process of mastering learning outside class. To address this gap in research and practice, the current study proposes and evaluates a learning support framework for mastery-based learning outside class that aims to respond to students' cognitive and affective needs and needs for developing appropriate learning strategies. The proposed framework was evaluated in a Chinese language course offered at an Australian university in Semester 1, 2016. This study focuses on the qualitative data collected through courses, such as screen captures of various learning support mechanisms, a student survey, and reflective journals from teachers. Our findings highlight the necessity, benefits, and challenges of offering learning support for mastery-based learning outside class in the flipped classroom context.

This study explores the process of Community of Practice (CoP) building for language teachers' professional development through the support of a WeChat group. WeChat is an instant messenger app that provides a multimodal platform for one-on-one and group interactions through text, audio and video. In order to support the implementation of flipped classrooms in a Chinese programme offered in an Australian university, a teachers' chat group was created on WeChat for just-in-time and collaborative professional development. This qualitative study focuses on three dimensions in the CoP, namely, mutual engagement, a joint enterprise, and a shared repertoire to examine how these Chinese teachers worked together to form their own CoP in their WeChat group. Qualitative data were collected through group chat interactions on WeChat, teacher reflective journals and a focus group discussion through audio conferencing on WeChat. Discussions of the strategies and challenges involved in the building of an active and sustainable online CoP through social media contribute to our understanding of professional development in a digital age.

This paper proposes a distance-based doctoral supervisory model to support students in the process of navigating self, agency, and emotions over their doctoral journey. The model emerged through our examination of the lived experiences of three Chinese female doctoral students who, though enrolled as internal students in our New Zealand university, were prevented by the pandemic from returning from their Spring Festival sojourn to China, and continued their study by distance. We employed narrative analysis to deeply engage with their stories shared in diaries and one-on-one interviews, alongside social media interactions. These revealed a strong commitment to study emanating from answerability toward their research projects, already underway, and agentive actions to maintain peer-to-peer academic and emotional support, enabling resilience and reflexivity about personal values and needs. Learning from this experience, we emphasize in our model the need to nurture important bonds between students, their peers and their supervisors in online environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English has become a compulsory subject from Primary Three in China since 2003 and is gradually being introduced even earlier into the curriculum in many schools. This highlights the official importance of English in both primary school education and society. However, although a compulsory subject, there are fewer English lessons than for Chinese and mathematics, the other core subjects. This raises questions about the real status of English in primary school education and whether it is really perceived as important. This paper firstly examines China's current primary school English language education policy and discusses the implications for the primary school curriculum. Adopting a qualitative research design, which included six focus group interviews with students, the study investigated the attitudes of students toward the learning of English in the primary schools. The study was conducted in three different government schools with varied socio-economic status. Findings show the positive attitudes of children toward English education and their support for the early introduction of English; however, some feel that English is not as important as Chinese and mathematics. After reporting and discussing the different perspectives of the students, this paper concludes by considering the implications for English education in primary schools in China and other Asian countries.

This study explores the process of Community of Practice (CoP) building for language teachers’ professional development through the support of a WeChat group. WeChat is an instant messenger app that provides a multimodal platform for one-on-one and group interactions through text, audio and video. In order to support the implementation of flipped classrooms in a Chinese programme offered in an Australian university, a teachers’ chat group was created on WeChat for just-in-time and collaborative professional development. This qualitative study focuses on three dimensions in the CoP, namely, mutual engagement, a joint enterprise, and a shared repertoire to examine how these Chinese teachers worked together to form their own CoP in their WeChat group. Qualitative data were collected through group chat interactions on WeChat, teacher reflective journals and a focus group discussion through audio conferencing on WeChat. Discussions of the strategies and challenges involved in the building of an active and sustainable online CoP through social media contribute to our understanding of professional development in a digital age. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]