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The impact of 360° videos on basic Chinese writing: a preliminary exploration

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Abstract

Using a smartphone is a very convenient way to learn languages in modern life. To understand the impact of the immersive environment created by a smartphone on essay writing in Chinese for second language learners, a study was conducted on 36 Vietnamese students in their first year at a university in Taiwan. This study adopted an experimental research design that lasted for 4 weeks. The participants were randomly divided into control and experimental groups. Two essay writing activities were conducted. All of the research elements, including the teacher, teaching process, learning duration, and writing topics (except in the prewriting stage) were identical in the two groups. Writing ideas were collected within 20 min, and the control group looked at pictures before writing, while the experimental group used the Google Cardboard device with a smartphone to watch 360° videos before writing. After the prewriting stage, both groups wrote an essay about a topic based on what they had planned during the prewriting stage. The results indicated that the experimental group had significantly higher composition scores than the control group. Interview results also suggested that most students were glad to have tried using Google Cardboard to watch 360° videos, and were also highly willing to continue using it in future writing classes.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan, ROC, under Grant Numbers MOST 110-2511-H-003 -038 -MY3 and MOST 111-2410-H-003 -006 -MY3 for financially supporting this conference. We are also grateful that the study was partially supported by the Chinese Language and Technology Center of National Taiwan Normal University from The Featured Areas Research Center Program within the framework of the Higher Education Sprout Project by the Ministry of Education in Taiwan.

Funding

Funding was provided by the National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan, ROC

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chinese as a Second Language, National Taiwan Normal University, 162, Sec. 1, Ho-Ping E. Rd., Taipei, Taiwan

    Yu-Ju Lan & Van Thi Thu Tam

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  1. Yu-Ju Lan
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  2. Van Thi Thu Tam
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Correspondence to Yu-Ju Lan.

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Appendices

Appendix A: topic one worksheet

實用詞彙Vocabulary

中文Chinese

拼音Pinyin

越文Vietnamese

日出 sunrise

Rì chū

Bình minh

熱氣球 hot air balloon

Rè qìqiú

Khinh khí cầu

綠草 green grass

Lǜ cǎo

cỏ xanh

脚踏車 bicycle

Jiǎotàchē

Xe đạp

稻田 rice field

Dào tián

Cánh đồng lúa

天空sky

Tiānkōng

Bầu trời

綠色 green

Lǜsè

Màu xanh

平靜 peace

Píngjìng

Yên bình

乾净 clean

Gān jìng

Sạch sẽ

巨大 huge

Jùdà

To lớn

自由自在 free

Zìyóu zìzài

Tự do tự tại

快樂 happy

Kuàilè

Vui vẻ

好天氣 good weather

Hǎo tiānqì

Thời tiết đẹp

晴天 sunny

Qíngtiān

Trời nắng đẹp

亮 bright

Liàng

Sáng

高山 mountain

Gāoshān

Núi cao

涼 cool

Liáng

Mát mẻ

寬 wide

Kuān

Rộng

覺得feel

Juédé

Cảm thấy

到處 everywhere

Dàochù

Mọi nơi, khắp nơi

路上 on the road

Lùshàng

Trên đường

多種 many kinds

Duōzhǒng

Nhiều loại

形狀 shape

Xíngzhuàng

Hình dáng

游泳 swim

Yóuyǒng

Bơi

藍色 blue

Lán sè

Màu xanh

Tourist spots

嘉義阿里山 Chiayi Ali Mountain

台東熱氣球嘉年華 Tai Tung- International Balloon Festival

台東伯朗大道 Tai Tung Brown Boulevard

南投日月潭 Nantou- Sun Moon Lake

Sentence patterns

跟∙∙∙∙∙一樣 same as

從∙∙∙∙∙往∙∙∙∙∙看look from … to …

坐在/站在∙∙∙∙∙上 sit/stand on

慢慢的∙∙∙∙∙slowly

雖然∙∙∙∙∙但是∙∙∙∙Although …, …./ …., but…

只有。。。there is only …

時∙∙∙∙∙時∙∙∙∙∙ ….is A and sometimes B

Appendix B: all of the pictures on Topic 1 used by the control group

figure a

Appendix C: Chinese writing rubrics

Element

Points

Description

Content

5

Staying on topic with vivid and detailed descriptions drawing on different senses, e.g. visual, auditory, and olfactory

4

Staying on topic with vivid and detailed descriptions

3

Mostly staying on topic with moderate descriptions

2

Hardly staying on topic with monotonous descriptions

1

Hardly staying on topic with limited descriptions

0

Not staying on topic

Organization

5

Complete with an introduction and a conclusion; consistent and clear development of paragraphs

4

Complete with a basic introduction and a conclusion; mostly consistent and clear development of paragraphs

3

Generally complete with a basic introduction and a conclusion; somewhat consistent and clear development of paragraphs with rather limited well-crafted transitions

2

Hardly complete; incomplete introduction and conclusion; disjointed or confusing sense of direction

1

Hardly complete; lack of an introduction and conclusion; disjointed or confusing sense of direction with missing paragraphs

0

Hardly complete; lack of an introduction and conclusion; lack of sense of direction with missing paragraphs

Vocabulary

5

Use of accurate and appropriate content-specific word choices and Chinese idioms

4

Use of mostly accurate and appropriate content-specific word choices and Chinese idioms

3

Use of mostly appropriate word choices with some Chinese idioms

2

Use of limited word choices and incorrect use of Chinese idioms

1

Use of limited and inappropriate word choices without any Chinese idioms

0

Use of mostly inappropriate word choices without any Chinese idioms

Grammar: Sentence fluency and conventions

5

Good flow and rhythm with effective variation in sentence patterns and many rhetorical devices

4

Mostly good flow and rhythm with some effective variation in sentence patterns and many rhetorical devices

3

Basic flow and rhythm with basic sentence patterns and some rhetorical devices

2

Limited flow and rhythm with many inappropriate uses of grammar and rhetorical devices

1

Lack of flow and rhythm with basic sentence patterns carrying many errors; a lack of rhetorical devices

0

Many errors with illogical uses

Appendix D: focus group interview questionnaires

I. The control group

  1. 1.

    你喜歡看圖寫作的方式嗎?

    Bạn có thích xem tranh viết văn tiếng Trung không?

    Do you like writing with picture prompts?

  2. 2.

    這兩次使用看圖寫作的方式你覺得對你的寫作有幫助嗎?為什麼?

    Trong hai lần xem tranh viết văn bạn cảm thấy có giúp ích cho việc viết văn tiếng Trung không? Vì sao?

    Does it help with your writing by using picture prompts? Why?

  3. 3.

    請問之前寫作課老師會用什麼方式來上課呢?

    Xin hỏi trước đây giờ viết văn giáo viên thường sử dụng phương pháp nào?

    How did your previous teachers teach writing?

  4. 4.

    請問之前你有看過3D影片嗎?如有, 感覺如何?

    Xin hỏi trước đây bạn đã từng xem qua video 3D chưa? Nếu có, bạn cảm thấy thế nào?

    Have you watched 3D videos? If yes, what do you think?

  5. 5.

    請問之前你有看過360o影片嗎?如有, 你是為了娛樂而看還是為了學習?

    Xin hỏi trước đây bạn đã xem qua video 360o chưa? Nếu có, bạn xem để giải trí hay vì mục đích học tập?

    Have you watched 360° videos? If yes, for entertainment or study purposes?

  6. 6.

    你覺得如果使用Google Cardboard看360o影片寫作的方式你會喜歡嗎?為什麼?

    Bạn cảm thấy nếu sử dụng kính xem video 360o để viết bài bạn có thích không? Vì sao?

    Would you like to write by watching 360° videos with Google Cardboard? Why?

  7. 7.

    你希望未來課室中, 老師用哪一種方式來上寫作課?為什麼?

    Bạn hy vọng trong tương lai giáo viên nên sử dụng phương pháo nào trong giờ viết văn? Vì sao?

    In which ways would you like your teachers to teach writing in the future? Why?

II. The experimental group

  1. 1.

    請問之前你有看過3D影片嗎?如有, 感覺如何?

    Xin hỏi trước đây bạn đã từng xem qua video 3D chưa? Nếu có, bạn cảm thấy thế nào?

    Have you watched 3D videos? If yes, what do you think?

  2. 2.

    請問之前你有看過360o影片嗎?如有, 你是為了娛樂而看還是為了學習?

    Xin hỏi trước đây bạn đã xem qua video 360° chưa? Nếu có, bạn xem để giải trí hay vì mục đích học tập?

    Have you watched 360° videos? If yes, for entertainment or study purposes?

  3. 3.

    使用Google Cardboard看360o影片容易使用嗎?你喜歡使用Google Cardboard看影片嗎?為什麼?

    Sử dụng kính xem video 360° có dễ dàng không? Bạn có thích dùng kính xem video không? Vì sao?

    Do you find it easy to watch 360° videos with Google Cardboard? Do you like watching videos with Google Cardboard?

  4. 4.

    使用Google Cardboard看360o影片對你的寫作作文有幫助嗎?為什麼?

    Sử dụng kính xem video 360 o có giúp ích cho việc viết văn tiếng Trung không? Vì sao?

    Does it help with your writing by watching 360o videos with Google Cardboard? Why?

  5. 5.

    這兩次使用Google Cardboard看360o影片你覺得還有哪個方面需要改進呢?

    Trong hai lần sử dụng kính xem video 360o bạn thấy có chỗ nào cần cải thiện không?

    What would you like to modify after two activities of watching 360° videos with Google Cardboard?

  6. 6.

    如果只看圖片寫作對寫作有何影響?是否有幫助?

    Nếu chỉ xem tranh để viết bài thì bạn cảm thấy có ảnh hưởng gì đến nội dung bài viết? Có giúp gì cho việc viết văn không?

    How would using picture prompts influence your writing? Would it help?

  7. 7.

    請問之前寫作課老師會用什麼方式來上課呢?

    Xin hỏi trước đây giờ viết văn giáo viên thường sử dụng phương pháp nào?

    How did your previous teachers teach writing?

  8. 8.

    你希望未來課室中, 老師用哪一種方式來上寫作課?為什麼?

    Bạn hy vọng trong tương lai giáo viên nên sử dụng phương pháo nào trong giờ viết văn? Vì sao?

    In which ways would you like your teachers to teach writing in the future? Why?

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Lan, YJ., Tam, V.T.T. The impact of 360° videos on basic Chinese writing: a preliminary exploration. Education Tech Research Dev 71, 539–562 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-022-10162-4

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