Although there is a growing body of research on peer teaching in different educational settings, to date there has been little in-depth research looking at benefits from peer teaching in foreign language education. This study discusses the pedagogical effects of student-centred learning through peer teaching in foreign language education, done through putting students at the centre of the teaching and learning process. In this peer teaching project, undergraduate students learning Korean as a foreign language at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) participated in different types of peer teaching sessions. Participating students became ‘tutor’ by teaching a target language (Korean) to their ‘tutee’ peers and led two teaching sessions by using their own teaching plans and materials. The entire process of peer teaching, its benefits, and all linguistic factors, as well as social, attitudinal and emotional factors during the peer teaching were explored through observation, interviews and survey methods. The findings show that they enjoyed teaching as independent, active and creative ‘experts’ responsible for their own learning, and such peer interactions had a positive impact on both tutor and tutee students as they demonstrated a noticeable increase in confidence, comfort, motivation, participation, knowledge and skills shared and developed together. This peer teaching project conducted in a student-centred environment not only sheds light on empowering students to be autonomous learners but also provides theoretical and practical guidelines for effective peer teaching in foreign language education.

Authors:
Kyung Min Nam, The University of Nottingham Ningbo China, China

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Kyung Min Nam is a University Postdoctoral Fellow or Instructor at The University of Nottingham Ningbo China in China

See this presentation on the full schedule – Saturday Schedule

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