Using YouTube and WeChat to Promote Communicative and Intercultural Competence in Japanese and Mandarin

Abstract

Web 2.0 technologies are omnipresent in the lives of the digital natives who are the majority of learners in the language centre's non-specialist programme. However, there is no automatic transfer from personal to pedagogical use especially when linguistic and intercultural competence is also at play. The Japanese and Chinese teachers, who are the chapter's co-authors see technology as an affordance and thus necessary for developing their students' proficiency. The chapter examines learners' perspectives on the technology used and whether it facilitates the degree of engagement intended.