Improving pre service english teachers native cultural knowledge and english language knowledge of native culture in a pbl classroom

Trang 1 Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found athttps://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rill20Innovation in Language Learning and TeachingISSN:

Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/rill20 Improving pre-service English teachers’ native cultural knowledge and English language knowledge of native culture in a PBL classroom Danyang Zhang, Junjie Gavin Wu & Zhuxia Fu To cite this article: Danyang Zhang, Junjie Gavin Wu & Zhuxia Fu (21 Feb 2024): Improving pre-service English teachers’ native cultural knowledge and English language knowledge of native culture in a PBL classroom, Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, DOI: 10.1080/17501229.2024.2318568 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2024.2318568 Published online: 21 Feb 2024 Submit your article to this journal Article views: 16 View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rill20 INNOVATION IN LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2024.2318568 Improving pre-service English teachers’ native cultural knowledge and English language knowledge of native culture in a PBL classroom Danyang Zhang a, Junjie Gavin Wu b and Zhuxia Fu a aCollege of International Studies, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China; bFaculty of Applied Sciences, Macao Polytechnic University, Macao, SAR ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Received August 2022 Purpose: Globalization underscores the importance of developing Accepted February 2024 language learners’ intercultural communication competence (ICC) English language teacher education nowadays thus necessitates KEYWORDS Native culture knowledge; pedagogy training on not only linguistic, but also intercultural English language knowledge dimensions However, the development of PSETs’ home-country cultural of native culture; project- knowledge (HCK) and English language knowledge of home-country based learning; pre-service English teachers culture (ELKHC) has been overlooked Given the wide application of project-based learning (PBL), this study aims to enhance Chinese PSETs’ HCK and ELKHC via group projects Top of Form Bottom of Form Design: The study was conducted within a PSET training course involving 43 participants at a Chinese university An intervention comprising four group projects was implemented, which required participants to utilize various technologies to showcase Chinese culture via the English language The instructor’s evaluation, students’ self-evaluation, and reflective journals were collected Findings: Quantitative analysis of the students’ self-evaluations and the course instructor’s evaluations demonstrated that the PSETs made significant progress in HCK and ELKHC Qualitative analysis of students’ reflective journals showed their learning experiences, gains, challenges, and solutions Originality/value: This study highlights how PBL affords authentic learning experiences and stimulates learning motivation and autonomy Strategies for helping learners make more progress in HCK and ELKHC via PBL are also discussed Ultimately, we believe this study offers insights into the training and development of foreign language professionals Introduction Nowadays, language learners are expected to develop their global citizenship to thrive in an increas- ingly interconnected world An essential premise to achieving this educational goal is to help language learners become intercultural speakers (Byram 1997) This means they should have high intercultural communication competence (ICC) to engage in intercultural interactions using a language such as English as a lingua franca ICC, which is conceptualized as ‘the ability to communicate effectively in cross-cultural situations and to relate appropriately in a variety of cultural contexts’ (Bennett 2004, 149), has become one of the most critical competencies in foreign language education (Liddicoat and Scarino 2013) CONTACT Junjie Gavin Wu junjiewu4-c@my.cityu.edu.hk R de Luís Gonzaga Gomes, Macao, China © 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group D ZHANG ET AL Nault (2006) highlighted that the cultivation of ICC in language education should be bidirectional, including the ability to understand, compare, evaluate, and apply cultural knowledge of the target language and that of the home-country culture Similarly, Chun (2011) highlighted the significance of the willingness to reflect on one’s home-country culture and critically evaluate the values in one’s home-country cultural practices Home-country culture, therefore, should be considered a bench- mark to help learners compare with the target language culture, protect their national identity, develop their intercultural sensitivity, and enhance their ICC Regarding curriculum, over two decades ago, Kramsch (2000) argued that home-country culture should be integrated into language courses promptly and appropriately In China, The Guidelines for Teaching Foreign Language and Literature Undergraduates by the Chinese Ministry of Education in 2018 require establishing courses related to Chinese culture Chinese culture, in this paper, refers to the ways of life across the 56 ethnic groups in China and their manifestations (e.g music, art, language, politics, history, and religion) The guidelines emphasize the significance of enhancing learners’ competence in understanding the culture of English-speaking countries and promoting stu- dents’ appreciation of their Chinese cultural heritage via other languages such as English However, the learning of home-country culture has been mainly stressed at the policy level, whereas implementation in the classroom has been limited Chinese English teachers’ lack of home- country cultural knowledge (HCK) and English language knowledge of home-country culture (ELKHC) poses a great challenge to improving learners’ ICC (Song and Xiao 2009) In the current study, HCK is understood as the knowledge that constitutes a person’s heritage and identity, ranging from tangible aspects of culture (e.g architecture, food) to intangible ones (e.g language, music) in his or her country; ELKHC can be defined as the knowledge that enables speakers to intro- duce their home-country culture and communicate with others through the English language In China, the Ministry of Education stresses the importance of equipping with not only foreign cultural knowledge to know more about the world but also Chinese cultural knowledge to introduce their native identities to the world in English and, more importantly, to help future students to so (Min- istry of Education 2022) Thus, as future English teachers, pre-service English teachers (PSETs) in China should be able to support their students to develop diverse identities that adopt the variety in ethnicity, gender, thought, personality, culture, working, and lifestyles (Darvin and Norton 2015) to engage in intercultural conversations where they can fluently introduce their home-country culture via other languages (Sehlaoui 2001) Therefore, cultivating HCK and ELKHC seems to become a priority in foreign language education and the professional development of PSETs This study applies project-based learning (PBL) to develop pre-service teachers’ HCK and ELKHC, which we argue are inseparable in learning, given Agar’s (1994) proposal of ‘languageculture’ In par- ticular, we integrated Chinese culture into a PSET training course in China and used PBL to promote their learning of HCK and ELKHC, which would guide them to become capable and talented foreign language professionals HCK and ELKHC teaching in China The significant role of home-country culture in improving ICC has recently been underscored in China (Wen 2016) However, although many Chinese learners have studied English for a long period, they still face challenges in communicating their knowledge of Chinese culture in their inter- actions with non-Chinese speakers For example, Xiao et al (2010), who investigated 64 English majors and 107 non-English majors’ HCK and ELKHC, reported that Chinese university students were competent in understanding the culture of English-speaking countries but deficient in their home-country culture An important reason for this surprising result was the teachers’ little emphasis on using English to express students’ Chinese identities and culture Liu et al (2018) focused on Chinese English majors, reporting that only a quarter of the 40 students who participated in their study could correctly and appropriately express Chinese culture in English Song and Xiao (2009) INNOVATION IN LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING grouped the challenges faced by students into two main categories: one relating to students’ lack of HCK and the other concerning their deficiency in ELKHC These challenges are caused by intertwining factors, including classroom teaching, teachers’ com- petence, and textbook development First, relatively little Chinese cultural content has been incor- porated into classroom teaching, after-school tutoring, homework, and course assessment, partly due to the exam-oriented nature of education in China Specifically, this goal-dominated type of teaching imposes a washback effect on learners and teachers, where most attention is paid to intro- ducing the knowledge of the English language and Western culture instead of Chinese culture or the two-way intercultural interactions between the different languages Secondly, most Chinese English teachers have never systematically studied Chinese culture before, which leads to their lack of HCK and ELKHC and overlooking the significance of Chinese culture Song and Xiao (2009) investigated the HCK and ELKHC of 197 Chinese university English tea- chers and students Their results showed that teachers and students performed poorly in the HCK and ELKHC tests In particular, the teachers had deficiencies in understanding key aspects of Chinese culture relating to education, philosophy, literature, and history In terms of ELKHC, although the teachers could translate Chinese cultural elements into English, they still encountered difficulties sharing their knowledge and understanding of Chinese classics, which are essential in Chinese culture Thirdly, the HCK and ELKHC in English textbooks in China usually belong to a type of rote learning process, which is insufficient and oversimplified (Wu and Miller 2021; Godwin-Jones 2013; Jordan 2016; Svihla et al 2015; Wu and Miller 2021) For example, Wang (2010) analyzed the proportion of cultural elements in two national college English courses Results showed that English-American culture accounted for 68.7% and 53.1% respectively, while Chinese culture only represented 1.56% and 4.1% Furthermore, most of these Chinese cultural elements are related to traditional Chinese culture, whereas stories about more recent economic and social advances in China are comparatively scarce Therefore, teachers need to guide learners to understand and discuss contemporary societal advancements to enable them to become global citizens Besides,, the ELKHC input in the textbooks is very low, which inevitably limits the development of students’ language ability to introduce Chinese stories in English Given the above issues, we call for more sustained efforts and systematic approaches to providing an authentic, progressive, and interesting learning environment for language students and teachers to develop their HCK and ELKHC The role of projects in learning language and culture Inspired by constructivist learning theory, PBL is centered on a project, which integrates various skills into different complex tasks, including planning, gathering and discussing information, solving pro- blems, and writing reports (Hedge 1993) PBL is usually applied in language education to equip lear- ners with critical thinking skills to solve challenging problems autonomously and collaboratively (Fried-Booth 2002), enabling them to learn at their own pace (Boubouka and Papanikolaou 2013; Wu and Miller 2021) Educators like Sercu (2010) have maintained that courses that involve student projects to exercise critical thinking and problem-solving skills are more effective than textbook-based spoon-fed language classrooms According to Stoller and Myers (2019), there are many benefits of PBL for L2 and foreign language students, including improving language abilities, reinforcing content learning, and mastering real-life skills (Norris 2016) Students’ language learning motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, especially intrinsic), engagement, and positive attitudes could also be pro- moted during the PBL process based on their learning pace (Brown 1994; Deci and Ryan 1995; Fischer 2007; Poehner and Lantolf 2005; Tsai 2011) Stoller and Myers (2019) proposed and elaborated a five-step process to guide teachers to plan, implement, and evaluate PBL in language classrooms, including (1) preparation, (2) information gathering, (3) information processing, (4) information display, and (5) reflections (Figure 1) During D ZHANG ET AL this learning process, students are in charge of their learning, with the assistance of teachers as coaches and experts (Pucher and Lehner 2011) In the first stage, students must determine the project theme, topics, final aims, and a progression plan The second stage requires students to collect information via various approaches like reading, web searches, questionnaires, and inter- views In the third stage, students are guided in processing the information by giving scaffolded instructions During the fourth stage, students share the projects with teachers and peers before assessments, including feedback, comments, or grades for finalizing the projects Scarino (2010, 327) argues that the assessment paradigm in PBL, which combines the formative and summative assessment approaches, recognizes the power of diverse assessment evidence This new paradigm enables the analysis of the ongoing, dynamic, and complex learning process and the understanding of students’ growth over time The final stage asks students to reflect on what they have learned from the project via discussion, journal entries, or mediation This would help them identify the strengths and weaknesses of their current projects based on their teachers’ and peers’ comments to improve their future projects (Carless and Boud 2018; Larmer and Mergendoller 2010) Compared with typical teacher-led classroom teaching, PBL may offer a superior alternative to achieving the objectives above, as it is effective in improving the skills of pre-service teachers, including their lea- dership, teaching motivation, collaboration, self-efficacy, and achievement (Mahasneh and Alwan 2018; Torres, Sriraman, and Ortiz 2019) All these skills are essential to being a competent and well-rounded language teacher who can impart HCK and ELKHC to one’s students Figure The five-step process of PBL (Stoller and Myers 2019) INNOVATION IN LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING The five-step process provides instructional guidance for language teachers to carry out PBL, while only a limited number of PBL studies have sought to explore students’ HCK and ELKHC levels by following this five-step process The rapid advance of technology has brought authentic texts and intercultural communication experiences into the classroom, which surmounts the limit- ations of classrooms (Byram 1997; Byram et al 2002) For example, social networking sites facilitate online practices that connect a classroom with the global community (Peters 2009); online education communities offer collaborative opportunities that enable teachers and students to build authentic cross-cultural communication channels (Chen and Yang 2014) One important study to explore the role of PBL in social networking sites is by Wu and Miller (2021), who investigated Chinese university students’ HCK via an informal PBL WeChat community Their case study demonstrated the develop- ment of HCK and ELKHC among Chinese EFL learners, as the students were more willing to partici- pate in the English learning community in the WeChat Group and to communicate and share their thoughts and experiences with others than in traditional classroom learning Nevertheless, to our knowledge, no studies have focused on PSETs, exploring their development of HCK and ELKHC in a participatory learning environment This study focused on Chinese PSETs to enhance their HCK and ELKHC via four group projects The two overarching research questions are: (1) Can the four group projects in the course improve Chinese PSETs’ HCK and ELKHC? (2) How PSETs’ HCK and ELKHC develop via the four group projects in the course? Research design 4.1 An overview of the course and the participants The present study aims to develop Chinese PSETs’ HCK and ELKHC based on a PSET training course called Multimedia and Foreign Language Teaching (see Zhang and Wu 2023 for the detailed project design) The course comprised four theoretical sessions (eight weeks) and four practical sessions (eight weeks) The four theoretical sessions introduced basic concepts, development, advantages, and challenges of multimedia technologies in English language teaching Based on the theories and concepts, the four practical sessions allowed learners to experience, design, and reflect on four technology-mediated approaches (i.e MOOC, micro lessons, gamification, and social media) All the sessions were taught in English to simultaneously develop learners’ English language abilities HCK and ELKHC were integrated into the theoretical and practical classes to lay the foundations for project-based group work For instance, in the computer-assisted language learning (CALL) session, the course instructor introduced online media reports on Chinese history and Chinese food in English and showed learners an example of an English MOOC named ‘Chinese Culture English’ In the mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) session, the instructor presented the example of 24 Chinese solar terms1 in English based on a report from China’s state-owned English language TV channel, CGTN Regarding the session on new technologies in English language teaching, four virtual reality (VR) examples of Chinese culture: (1) The Palace of the Emperor in the Forbidden City; (2) The ‘V-Palace’ WeChat mini-program; (3) The Virtual National Museum on WeChat’s public account; and (4) Traditional Chinese Culture in the Multilingual Context VR learning platform – were respectively illustrated and discussed in English After each practical session, the PSETs collaborated with their teammates to complete a group project relating to Chinese culture in English, contributing to their HCK and ELKHC development The PSETs (i.e the participants) in this study were 43 third-year undergraduate students majoring in English language education at a comprehensive university in Mainland China All participants took a compulsory course on Chinese culture in their first year of university, but they had yet to have the chance to use English to communicate about Chinese culture in real life The PSETs formed 12 groups in the course, and each group comprised three to four members D ZHANG ET AL Figure Research procedure of this study 4.2 Research procedure The study contained three main phases (see Figure 2) At the onset of the course, participants were asked to self-evaluate their HCK and ELKHC Following this, the 16-week course was implemented, during which four group projects relating to Chinese culture were assigned (see Section 4.3.1) PBL in the course followed the five-step process proposed by Stoller and Myers (2019) (See Section 3) The PSETs first decided on the topics of their projects before gathering and processing information They were invited to present their projects in front of the class, receiving comments from the audience The course instructor, the first author of this article, provided feedback regarding the content and language uses and then gave marks on the PSETs’ four group projects regarding their HCK and ELKHC As the course ended, participants were invited to self-evaluate the two types of knowledge again They were also asked to complete a reflective journal to report their learn- ing experiences based on prompt questions 4.3 Intervention and instruments 4.3.1 PSET group projects This course has four group projects, respectively centring on the four technologies taught in the course (i.e MOOC, micro lesson, game, and social media) The PSETs could choose topics they tended to explore, but the topics needed to relate to Chinese culture in order to improve their HCK and ELKHC The first group project required participants to design an English MOOC outline of Chinese culture The course outline included reasons for designing the course, the target student group, course overview, prior knowledge of students, overall course structure, homework, examinations, certificate requirements, discussion topics, and reference materials The second group assignment required the participants to apply gamification to English teaching activities, introducing and discussing Chinese culture The activity needed to cover the activity name, type, platform, length, and activity structure The third group assignment required the participants to design an English micro lesson about Chinese culture The project required participants to design a 10-minute micro lesson involving teaching objectives, target student groups, length, course struc- ture, and script Participants were asked to design an English language teaching class activity using relevant social media knowledge in the fourth group project The submitted work needed to include the activity name, social media platform, length, and activity structure INNOVATION IN LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING 4.3.2 PSETs’ and course instructor’s evaluations Before and after the course intervention, participants were invited to evaluate their HCK and ELKHC by completing two rating questions The total score for each question was 10, with being the lowest and 10 being the highest No answer was not scored Near the end of the semester, the course instructor marked the PSETs’ group projects based on their HCK and ELKHC This article’s second and third authors and a teacher from the course teaching team provided their perspectives on the scoring, and any differences were negotiated Both HCK and ELKHC had a maximum possible score of 25 In this study, descriptive analysis and statistical analysis were adopted to analyze the evaluation data Descriptive analysis was mainly used for the average score In terms of statistical analysis, the paired sample t-test was used to investigate whether there were statistical differences between the pre- and post-intervention scores SPSS 26.0 was used to descriptively and statistically analyze the data 4.3.3 PSETs’ reflective journals As Godwin-Jones (2013) highlighted, a reflective journal is a helpful way for learners to record, report, and share their experiences and feelings After completing each group project, every participant was required to summarize their perceived gains and deficiencies along with the strategies and solutions they used to address the deficiencies In total, 164 reflective journals were collected, consisting of more than 65,000 Chinese words This study used thematic analysis to analyze the reflective journals We firstly read all the journals several times and familiarized ourselves with the data As the journals were highly personalized, we used an open-coding method, which is efficient for initially labeling and categorizing chunks of data (Rivas 2012) We descriptively labeled the data as ‘units of meaning’ (Miles and Huberman 1994, 56) to obtain the initial codes at a relatively lower conceptual level Subsequently, we grouped these initial codes and reorganized them into broad categories relating to HCK and ELKHC at a more abstract level For example, ‘the cooking method for Dongpo Pork2’ was coded into the broad cat- egory of HCK, while ‘vocabulary about Dongpo Pork’ was coded as ELKHC The codes were further categorized into four themes based on Pavlovich’s (2007) four dimensions of reflective journal design: (1) descriptions of the learning experience; (2) analysis of the learning experience; (3) creation of new meanings and understandings3; and (4) actions for change4 After defining and naming the themes as well as identifying the relationships between the themes, initial results were examined We then checked whether any information was missing and whether the coding was accurate before making modifications All journal data were coded and ana- lyzed by MAXQDA Plus The analysis produced 312 codes in total Of these, 173 pertained to HCK, and 139 were about ELKHC To ensure inter-rater reliability, the authors randomly invited an applied linguist to analyze 40 (24.4%) reflective journals The results of the authors and the rater were then compared The consistency was 92.8%, indicating that the analysis of the PSETs’ reflective journals had high inter-rater reliability Results 5.1 Research question 1: can the four group projects in the course improve Chinese PSETs’ HCK and ELKHC? In this section, we compare (1) the PSETs’ pre- and post-self-evaluation scores; and (2) the instructor’s evaluation scores for the four group projects According to the PSETs’ self-evaluation results, their HCK and ELKHC improved Specifically, their self-evaluation average score for HCK before the course was 5.49, which increased to 6.83 at the end of the course Regarding ELKHC, the self-evalu- ation average score was 5.32 before the course and 6.66 afterward Table shows that the paired D ZHANG ET AL Table Paired Sample T-test of PSETs’ self-evaluation Paired Differences 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Mean Std Deviation Std Error Mean Lower Upper t df Sig (2-tailed) Pair Pre-HCK–Post-HCK 1.34 2.07 .32 .69 1.99 4.15 40 000 Pair Pre-ELKHC–Post-ELKHC 1.34 2.39 .37 .59 2.10 3.59 40 001 sample t-test results demonstrate significant differences between the pre- and post-self-evaluation (p ≤ 001), indicating that the PSETs believed they made noticeable progress regarding their HCK and ELKHC The instructor scored the PSETs’ four group projects (Table 2) As the course progressed, the scores gradually increased Specifically, participants only achieved 18.10 on average for HCK in the first group project However, the average score rose steadily and reached 22.34 for the fourth project Regarding ELKHC, gradual growth was also evident, from 19.27 to 21.47 In comparison, the improvements in the learners’ HCK were more significant (M = 4.24) compared to ELKHC (M = 2.20) According to the paired sample t-test results, statistically significant differences could be found in both aspects (p ≤ 001) (Table 3) 5.2 Research question 2: how Chinese PSETs acquire their HCK and ELKHC via the four group projects in the course? Reflective journals allow language learners to think about their L2 learning experiences, empowering them to adjust their approaches and perspectives over the language course (Burke and Dunn 2006) In this section, we report the PSETs’ reflective journal data concerning their acquisition of HCK and ELKHC based on Pavlovich’s (2007) four dimensions 5.2.1 Reflections on HCK Among the 173 codes about HCK, 32 related to ‘descriptions of the learning experience’; 105 con- cerned ‘analysis of the learning experience’; and 36 were classified as ‘creation of new meanings and understandings’ There was no code about ‘actions for change’ Regarding ‘descriptions of the learning experiences’, participants mainly shared how their groups worked together to complete the projects Generally, they completed their group projects by consulting online and offline litera- ture, soliciting professional suggestions from the instructor, discussing with their peers and finishing the parts of the project for which they were responsible For instance, as Lin reported, her group gathered to brainstorm ideas about cultural themes before searching for references individually and integrating useful information collaboratively Most answers were categorized into ‘analysis of the learning experience’, which included the par- ticipants’ analysis of their gains and deficiencies in the group projects On the one hand, regarding gains, participants highlighted that their understanding of HCK had been strengthened As Lai said: Though I come from Shandong, I previously knew little about my hometown cuisine I developed a deeper understanding of Shandong cuisine by completing the MOOC project I have learned a lot about the cooking techniques, everyday ingredients and signature dishes of Shandong cuisine Table Average score of four group projects for HCK and ELKHC (25 points/each project) First group project Second group project Third group project Fourth group project HCK 18.10 20.47 21.26 22.34 ELKHC 19.27 20.15 20.79 21.47 INNOVATION IN LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING Table Paired sample T-test of course instructor’s evaluation Paired Differences 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Mean Std Deviation Std Error Mean Lower Upper t df Sig (2-tailed) Pair Pre-HCK–Post-HCK 4.24 1.30 .20 3.83 4.65 20.91 40 000 Pair Pre-ELKHC–Post-ELKHC 2.20 93 15 1.90 2.49 15.15 40 000 In addition, participants’ gains in HCK were also reflected in the enhancement of their HCK learning motivation For instance, Wang shared that her HCK learning motivation was previously not very high, so she seldom paid attention to Chinese cultural issues on social media and in books However, after taking this course, she found that Chinese culture is ‘interesting, brilliant and beauti- ful’ and felt responsible for acquiring more HCK in the future On the other hand, regarding deficiencies, some participants (such as Lu) stated: Although I agree that this course helped me understand Chinese culture better, I still don’t know much about it, apart from the culture of my hometown Also, I think the Chinese cultural knowledge I have acquired is relatively superficial Although I was interested in studying Chinese geography and history, it was not enough to teach these to my future students Xu also differentiated the HCK she had acquired, and the HCK needed for teaching She emphasized that before she could teach HCK, she needed a much higher level of knowledge Therefore, even though this course ‘opened the door’ for the participants to start acquiring HCK, there is still much work for them to as PSETs in accumulating their HCK and developing their ICC ‘Creation of new meanings and understandings’ in this study could be interpreted as the partici- pants’ attempts to find solutions to resolve their perceived deficiencies In their reflective journals, most participants mentioned solutions, including (1) searching and reading more materials to deepen their knowledge, (2) actively participating in activities relating to HCK, and (3) seeking help from instructors and other groups For instance, participants like Chen highlighted her lack of knowl- edge concerning Chinese history, so she planned to read more media reports from sources such as CGTN and China Daily to help her future teaching In addition, participants like Liu decided to attend more HCK-related activities, as she reported following their MOOC group project: I plan to participate in more discussions and interact more with my teammates in the next group project I plan to read more relevant literature and search for high-quality MOOC examples Apart from classroom learning, I should attend more activities relating to Chinese culture, such as cultural knowledge competitions and cultural exchange festivals Some participants underscored the importance of seeking help from instructors and other groups as they acknowledged that, in this way, they could ask questions and uncover recommendations about HCK As Zheng said: My instructor and classmates are my strongest supporters They are vital in answering my questions and provid- ing recommended resources about HCK Without their help, I would have no direction about acquiring HCK for my English learning and future teaching 5.2.2 Reflections on ELKHC Among the 139 codes relating to ELKHC, there were 18 about ‘descriptions of the learning experi- ence’; 97 about ‘analysis of the learning experience’; and 24 about ‘creation of new meanings and understandings’ However, no responses could be categorized as ‘actions for change’ Like the descriptions for HCK, participants prepared for their projects predominantly by reviewing materials and watching relevant course videos In these ways, they could record and then learn appropriate 10 D ZHANG ET AL English words and expressions for Chinese cultural activities They also attempted to discuss their confusion about some words with their teammates For instance, Song stated that some words, such as ‘porcelain’ and ‘ceramics’, were challenging to differentiate After reviewing information online and discussing it with her teammates, she finally determined that although these two materials belonged to the same family, they were cousins but not twins When analyzing their learning experiences, many participants attributed their gains to vocabu- lary, translation, and writing As Zhu mentioned, she had learned expressions to describe the steps of making some Chinese cuisines in English, such as ‘marinate the meat in soy sauce’ and ‘fry the meat until golden brown’ Some participants also learned to translate the cultural terminol- ogy relating to pipa,5 Sichuan cuisine, tourism, and tea Some, such as Wang, reported that they applied the translation principles they had previously learned (e.g the semantic proximity principle and the cultural communication principle) to translate Chinese cultural terminology, which helped improve their translation skills For writing, participants underlined that planning and writing the course/activity outline contributed to developing their English writing skills As Li said: I think that writing micro lesson scripts is helpful for my writing I felt very productive when preparing the history of Dongpo Pork I realize that writing a script requires a careful choice of words because of the need to simul- taneously consider lexical diversity and accuracy and the logic and organization of sentences At the same time, some participants also mentioned that they made few gains relating to phrases, collocations, and sentences Therefore, they were worried they could still not use the vocabulary they had acquired in an authentic context In particular, they expressed concerns about speaking For instance, Zhang stated: I think my English ability to tell Chinese stories needs further improvement I can only use simple words and sentences to share Chinese stories with my foreign friends I find it difficult to translate terminology, especially terms about Chinese history In response to these challenges, participants recommended ways to enhance their English linguistic knowledge about Chinese culture, including paying heightened attention to the differ- ences between Chinese and foreign languages and spending time reading, watching, and listening to local and international news Furthermore, they indicated that they should make more effort at the sentence level and attempt to actively use English to express their native identities and adopt diverse identities in international encounters To summarize, the PSETs’ reflective journals demonstrated their learning experiences, gains and challenges, and their corresponding strategies to tackle these challenges Most of their contributions are related to their analysis of their improvements, deficiencies, and challenges Although we can see their progress in HCK and ELKHC from the instructor’s evaluations, they generally did not discuss in detail the actions they had taken to address the problems during the course Discussion and implications In this study, the PSETs’ self-evaluations and the instructor’s evaluations demonstrated gradual but significant gains in HCK and ELKHC because of the course The qualitative data provided a few poss- ible interpretations to further understand the PSETs’ progress over the semester Based on the results, several issues deserve further discussion and interpretation First, the Chinese PSETs can obtain authentic HCK and ELKHC learning experiences via PBL, which stresses authenticity in learning and testing and predicts how learners can use the language for auth- entic purposes (Norris 2016) Implementing PBL generally involves re-organizing students’ accus- tomed learning process (Boubouka and Papanikolaou 2013) Unlike traditional paper tests limited to testing learners’ ultimate learning gains, PBL offers a dynamic and innovative way for teachers and learners to analyze the learning process and promote their academic growth over time (Lee and Wu 2023; Poehner and Lantolf 2005) INNOVATION IN LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING 11 In the present study, authenticity in PBL was manifested in at least three different ways, including audiences, texts, and purposes (Hafner and Miller 2019) Based on the participants’ reflections, they were required to design HCK learning materials and tasks with the needs of their future students in mind Differing from the traditional role of the learner, when finishing these projects, they had to take on the additional roles of teacher and course designer These PSETs were learning to become teachers by critically selecting appropriate materials, creatively generating learning activi- ties, and accurately assessing student progress by considering their potential students To participate in the group projects and to design authentic tasks, the participants reported that they resorted to real-world resources about Chinese culture, such as news reports, online videos, and academic refer- ences Based on these materials, they could integrate authentic content regarding Chinese culture into their educational activities, for example, in the MOOCs Thus, by learning to become language teachers, the participants had the opportunity to develop their knowledge of HCK and ELKHC Second, the Chinese PSETs’ motivation and autonomy in learning about HCK and ELKHC have been enhanced via PBL In this study, the PSETs remarked that the PBL experience helped them examine their knowledge and skills in expressing their Chinese cultural identity and adopting diverse identities through English Aware of their current deficiencies, the PSETs argued that PBL seems to be an effective way to motivate them to take charge of their learning and help them become autonomous learners However, according to Wu (2018) and Wu and Miller (2021), Chinese learners are generally passive learners who rely heavily on extrinsic motivation, including exams, parental expectations, and teachers’ requirements Although such extrinsic means of promot- ing student learning are, to some degree, useful in an exam-oriented culture, intrinsic motivation is regarded as a superior approach to achieving better language learning outcomes (Brown 1994) The PSETs in the present study appreciated that the PBL experience empowered them to take control and make decisions when designing tasks for their future students The aforementioned diverse identities that the participants took on, the awareness of their learning issues, and the active reading and selection of task materials collectively suggest mixed intrinsic and extrinsic motivation among the PSETs and their investment of effort to participate in the projects Intrinsically speaking, the interest in expressing their local identity and culture helps regulate student learning and facili- tates a sense of autonomy (Wu and Miller 2021) Extrinsically, identified regulation, one of the mani- festations of extrinsic motivation, also benefits autonomous learning behavior (Noels et al 2000) as learners recognize that developing HCK and ELKHC benefits their future development Similarly, studies such as those by Fischer (2007), Tsai (2011) and Hafner and Miller (2019) all confirm that language learners’ involvement in projects contributes to positive attitudes toward learning and learners are motivated to face the challenges that they expect to encounter in their future careers In China, Zhang and Wu (2023) demonstrates that Chinese learners’ home-country cultural awareness and motivation could be enhanced via PBL Third, although the study highlights a few affordances of PBL in acquiring HCK and ELKHC, no sol- utions were retrieved from the participants’ reflective journals to address their challenges and pro- blems It may be challenging for them to achieve this higher-order learning objective; therefore, tailored support from tutors or peers will assist Educators have argued that due to the washback effect of high-stakes exams, many, if not all, Chinese students tend to develop the habit of learning by closely following teachers’ instructions (sometimes referred to as spoon-fed learning) In this case, instructions and guidance from teachers were of great importance In this study, the participants appreciated their instructor’s support when completing the learning projects across the term They were empowered with the necessary background knowledge and relevant practice in class before they worked collaboratively to design their projects Such PBL experience is novel to PSETs in China since existing PSET courses tend to frame instructions as planning rather than designing, supervise learning rather than address problems in various adaptive ways, and implement prepared teaching plans rather than create participatory learning environments (Svihla et al 2015) Very few teacher train- ing programs have instructed guidance on achieving the growth of competent teachers who not only own the knowledge gained from the classes but can also apply it in their future teaching (Jordan 2016) 12 D ZHANG ET AL According to Pucher and Lehner (2011), teachers should take different roles in PBL They may con- sider themselves coaches who carefully accompany students to accomplish their learning goals, while sometimes, they serve as experts who provide professional instructions (Tamim and Grant 2013) Moreover, according to Larmer and Mergendoller (2010), formalizing a process for support and feedback during PBL makes learning meaningful and effective, because students can learn from the comments for their next project We suggest that future research could further investigate the longitudinal impacts on learners’ uptake of feedback in future ICC learning projects In addition to instructor support, the importance of feedback from capable peers was stressed by the PSETs in this project As discussed, the participants appreciated the group work that enabled them to support each other when synthesizing information and producing learning materials An exam-oriented learning culture often leads to competition rather than collaboration among learners (Wu 2018), whereas, in this PBL course, the participants worked collaboratively to complete the out- of-class learning projects However, learners in PBL may lack sufficient pedagogical and content knowledge, so some guidance from teachers regarding peer feedback literacy may be helpful (Carless and Boud 2018; Larmer and Mergendoller 2010) Given this, future research should integrate teachers’ formative feedback and other groups’ comments to improve the present study to offer a more precise direction for further improvement Admittedly, the present study has some limitations Firstly, the present study did not include a control group to compare the potential differences in the PSETs’ HCK and ELKHC improvement after taking the course Researchers could consider conducting experimental studies by adding a control group to measure the effectiveness of PBL in teaching HCK and ELKHC In addition, the study could have benefited more from an individual assessment of the impact of different projects on the development of ICC Secondly, apart from questionnaires and reflection journals, other approaches, such as tests, observation, and interviews, could also be integrated to obtain more con- vincing results to understand this issue The reflection journal could be improved to track PSETs’ pro- gress during the learning process Thirdly, this study only focused on Chinese PSETs, so the sample size should be enlarged in future projects to include PSETs from other non-English speaking countries This would make the results more generalizable and better represent all PSETs Lastly, as the study only focused on one course – Multimedia and Foreign Language Teaching, more English education courses should be considered to further explore students’ development of HCK and ELKHC Concluding remarks This study was conducted in a PBL course where instructed teaching and group projects were employed to cultivate Chinese PSETs’ development of HCK and ELKHC In the theoretical sessions, Chinese cultural elements and examples were incorporated, and the practical sessions offered the participants numerous chances to complete group projects relating to Chinese culture According to the PSETs’ self-evaluations and the course instructor’s evaluations, the PSETs’ HCK and ELKHC improved significantly due to the course The PSETs’ reflective journals depicted their group project processes, gains and deficiencies, as well as solutions they adopted to address the problems and challenges they encountered Unlike previous studies that focused on ICC development via tele- collaboration, this study attempted to implement PBL and infuse HCK and ELKHC into a pre-service teacher training course We expect that the results of this study can offer educators and teachers practical suggestions on integrating HCK and ELKHC into current teacher education to cultivate well-rounded interdisciplinary language professionals Notes Based on the sun’s position in the zodiac, the 24 solar terms were created by ancient Chinese farmers to guide agricultural affairs and farming activities INNOVATION IN LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING 13 ‘Dongpo Pork’ is a traditional Chinese dish named after a Song Dynasty poet This dish is made by pan-frying and then red cooking pork belly ‘Creation of new meanings and understandings’ refers to the actions that the learners planned to undertake ‘Actions for change’ refers to the actions that the learners had actually undertaken Pipa, sometimes called the ‘Chinese lute’, is a traditional Chinese musical instrument Disclosure statement No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s) Funding This work was supported by Guangdong Planning Office of Philosophy and Social Science under Grant [Grant Number: GD21WZX02-01] Notes on Contributors Danyang Zhang is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean at the College of International Studies, Shenzhen Univer- sity She obtained her PhD in Education from the University of Cambridge and holds two master’s degrees from the Institute of Education, University College London Danyang has published her work in numerous SSCI journals, includ- ing System, Applied Linguistics, Computer Assisted Language Learning, and Language Teaching Research She currently serves as a journal reviewer for ReCALL, Language Learning & Technology, Virtual Reality, and Interactive Learning Environments Her research interests include second language vocabulary acquisition, technology-enhanced language learning, and teacher development Junjie Gavin Wu is a Lecturer (equivalent to Assistant Professor) at Macao Polytechnic University, where he supervises doctoral students of educational technology He is a Vice President of PacCALL and serves as an Associate Editor in IEEE TLT (SSCI, SCI, & EI), an Executive Associate Editor in Computers & Education: X Reality, and a Book Review Editor in TESL- EJ He has authored over 40 publications, among which around 20 appearing in SSCI journals Zhuxia Fu is a lecturer at the College of International Studies, Shenzhen University Zhuxia completed her PhD at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge Her research interests are in Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory of learning, concept-based instruction and second language writing ORCID Danyang Zhang http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2514-9488 Junjie Gavin Wu http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4937-4401 Zhuxia Fu http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8138-7969 References Agar, M 1994 “The Intercultural Frame.” International Journal of Intercultural Relations 18 (2): 221–237 https://doi.org/ 10.1016/0147-1767(94)90029-9 Bennett, M J 2004 “Becoming Interculturally Competent.” In Toward Multiculturalism: A Reader in Multicultural Education, edited by J S Wurzel Newton, Massachusetts: Intercultural Resource Corporation Boubouka, M., and K A Papanikolaou 2013 “Alternative Assessment Methods in Technology Enhanced Project-Based Learning.” International Journal of Learning Technology (3): 263–296 https://doi.org/10.1504/IJLT.2013.057063 Brown, H D 1994 Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy Hoboken, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Burke, P J., and S Dunn 2006 “Communicating Science: Exploring Reflexive Pedagogical Approaches.” Teaching in Higher Education 11 (2): 219–231 https://doi.org/10.1080/13562510500527743 Byram, M 1997 Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Byram, M., B Gribkova, and H Starkey 2002 Developing the Intercultural Dimension in Language Teaching: A Practical Introduction for Teachers Strasbourg, France: Language Policy Division, Directorate of School, Out-of-School and Higher Education, Council of Europe Carless, D., and D Boud 2018 “The Development of Student Feedback Literacy: Enabling Uptake of Feedback.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 43 (8): 1315–1325 https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1463354 14 D ZHANG ET AL Chen, J J., and S C Yang 2014 “Fostering Foreign Language Learning Through Technology-Enhanced Intercultural Projects.” Language Learning & Technology 18 (1): 57–75 Chun, D M 2011 “Developing Intercultural Communicative Competence Through Online Exchanges.” CALICO Journal 28 (2): 392–419 https://doi.org/10.11139/cj.28.2.392-419 Darvin, R., and B Norton 2015 “Identity and a Model of Investment in Applied Linguistics.” Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 35: 36–56 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190514000191 Deci, E L., and R M Ryan 1995 “Human Autonomy: The Basis for True Self-Esteem.” In Agency, Efficacy, and Self-Esteem, edited by M Kernis, 31–49 New York: Plenum Fischer, R 2007 “How Do We Know What Students are Actually Doing? Monitoring Students’ Behavior in CALL.” Computer Assisted Language Learning 20 (5): 409–442 https://doi.org/10.1080/09588220701746013 Fried-Booth, D L 2002 Project Work 2nd ed Oxford: Oxford University Press Godwin-Jones, R 2013 “Integrating Intercultural Competence Into Language Learning Through Technology.” Language Learning & Technology 17 (2): 1–11 Hafner, C A., and L Miller 2019 English in the Disciplines: A Multidimensional Model for ESP Course Design London: Routledge Hedge, T 1993 “Key Concepts in EFL: Project Work.” ELT Journal 47 (3): 275–276 https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/47.3.275 Jordan, M E 2016 “Teaching as Designing: Preparing pre-Service Teachers for Adaptive Teaching.” Theory Into Practice 55 (3): 197–206 https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2016.1176812 Kramsch, C 2000 “Second Language Acquisition, Applied Linguistics, and the Teaching of Foreign Languages.” The Modern Language Journal 84 (3): 311–326 https://doi.org/10.1111/0026-7902.00071 Larmer, J., and J R Mergendoller 2010 “Seven Essentials for Project-Based Learning.” Educational Leadership 68 (1): 34–37 Lee, S M., and J G Wu 2023 “Teaching With Immersive Virtual Reality.” International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching 13 (1): 1–14 http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/IJCALLT Liddicoat, A., and A Scarino 2013 Intercultural Language Teaching and Learning Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell Liu, L H., H L Dai, and Z D Huang 2018 “英语专业学生的中国文化失语症分析研究” [Chinese culture aphasia among English majors] Technology Enhanced Foreign Language Education [外语电化教学] 2018 (5): 42–46 Mahasneh, A M., and A F Alwan 2018 “The Effect of Project-Based Learning on Student Teacher Self-Efficacy and Achievement.” International Journal of Instruction 11 (3): 511–524 https://doi.org/10.12973/iji.2018.11335a Miles, M B., and A M Huberman 1994 Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Ministry of Education 2022 义务教育英语课程标准 Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press Nault, D 2006 “Going Global: Rethinking Culture Teaching in ELT Contexts.” Language, Culture and Curriculum 19 (3): 314–328 https://doi.org/10.1080/07908310608668770 Noels, K A., L G Pelletier, R Clément, and R J Vallerand 2000 “Why Are You Learning a Second Language? Motivational Orientations and Self-Determination Theory.” Language learning 50 (1): 57–85 Norris, J M 2016 “Current Uses for Task-Based Language Assessment.” Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 36: 230–244 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190516000027 Pavlovich, K 2007 “The Development of Reflective Practice Through Student Journals.” Higher Education Research & Development 26 (3): 281–295 https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360701494302 Peters, L 2009 Global Education: Using Technology to Bring the World to Your Students Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education Poehner, M., and J Lantolf 2005 “Dynamic Assessment in the Language Classroom.” Language Teaching Research (3): 233–265 https://doi.org/10.1191/1362168805lr166oa Pucher, R., and M Lehner 2011 “Project Based Learning in Computer Science – A Review of More Than 500 Projects.” Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 29: 1561–1566 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.11.398 Rivas, C 2012 “Coding and Analysing Qualitative Data.” In Researching Society and Culture, edited by C Searle, 366–393 London: SAGE Scarino, A 2010 “Assessing Intercultural Capability in Learning Languages: A Renewed Understanding of Language, Culture, Learning, and the Nature of Assessment.” The Modern Language Journal 94 (2): 324–329 Sehlaoui, A S 2001 “Developing Cross-Cultural Communicative Competence in pre-Service ESL/EFL Teachers: A Critical Perspective.” Language, Culture and Curriculum 14 (1): 42–57 https://doi.org/10.1080/07908310108666611 Sercu, L 2010 “Autonomous Learning and the Acquisition of Intercultural Communicative Competence: Some Implications for Course Development.” Language, Culture and Curriculum 15 (1): 61–74 https://doi.org/10.1080/ 07908310208666633 Song, Y W., and L F Xiao 2009 “大学英语教学”中国文化失语”现状调查” [The present situation of Chinese cultural aphasia in college English teaching in China] Foreign Languages in China/中国外语 2009 (6): 88–92 Stoller, F L., and C C Myers 2019 “Project-Based Learning: A Five-Stage Framework to Guide Language Teachers.” In Project-Based Learning in Second Language Acquisition, edited by G Adrian, 25–47 New York: Routledge Svihla, V., R Reeve, O Sagy, and Y Kali 2015 “A Fingerprint Pattern of Supports for Teachers’ Designing of Technology- Enhanced Learning.” Instructional Science 43 (2): 283–307 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-014-9342-5 INNOVATION IN LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING 15 Tamim, S R., and M M Grant 2013 “Definitions and Uses: Case Study of Teachers Implementing Project-Based Learning.” Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning (2): 136–149 https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015 1323 Torres, A S., V Sriraman, and A M Ortiz 2019 “Implementing Project Based Learning Pedagogy in Concrete Industry Project Management.” International Journal of Construction Education and Research 15 (1): 62–79 https://doi.org/10 1080/15578771.2017.1393475 Tsai, S C 2011 “Courseware Integration Into Task-Based Learning: A Case Study of Multimedia Courseware-Supported Oral Presentations for Non-English Major Students.” ReCALL 23 (2): 117–134 https://doi.org/10.1017/ S0958344011000048 Wang, F 2010 “我国大学英语教材中的文化选择与配置—以两套大学英语《综合教程》为例” [On cultural selection and configuration of college English textbooks in China —taking two sets of college english integrated courses as examples] Journal of Xi’an International Studies University/西安外国语大学学报 2010 (2): 101–104 Wen, Q F 2016 “在英语通用语背景下重新认识语言与文化的关系” [Rethinking of the relationship between language and culture in the context of teaching English as a lingua franca] Foreign Language Learning Theory and Practice [外语教学理论与实践] 2016 (02): 1–7+13 Wu, J G 2018 “Mobile Collaborative Learning in a Chinese Tertiary EFL Context.” TESL-EJ 22 (2): 1–15 Wu, J G., and L Miller 2021 “Raising Native Cultural Awareness through WeChat: A Case Study with Chinese EFL Students.” Computer Assisted Language Learning 34 (4): 552–582 Xiao, L F., D Xiao, L Li, and Y W Song 2010 “我国高校英语教育中的“中国文化失语”现状研究” [A study of “Chinese culture aphasia” in present English education in Chinese higher education] Foreign Language Learning Theory and Practice [外语教学理论与实践] 2010 (01): 39–47 Zhang, D., and J G Wu 2023 “Enhancing EFL Learners’ Native Cultural Awareness via Project-based Learning.” TESL-EJ 27 (1): 1–14 http://dx.doi.org/10.55593/ej