Facilitating the Switch to Asia-wide EAL Dialogues: Wikinomics/English Corners-Meetups/WeCHAT
Keywords:
WeCHAT, English Corner, EAL, MALL, Role Play, PBLAbstract
For many years the Internet has been referred to, by Downes (2004, para. 35) among others, as a meeting place where dialogue is replacing information publishing and retrieval. In recent years, the WeCHAT phenomenon has spread throughout China and much of Asia. For some 30 years, English Corners have been spreading in China, and now are also developing elsewhere in Asia. This paper discusses the possibilities of developing a Synergy for the learning of English as an Asian Language (as well as other languages), by linking WeCHAT with English etc. Corners (whether in-person or online) and using the principles and practices of Wikinomics, such as Mass Collaboration and Peer Production, to bring a new dimension to Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (Burston, 2013).
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