The Influence of Active Teaching-Learning Methods on Students’ Academic Performance in Mandarin Course: Undergraduates in Focus.

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of using active teaching-learning methods on students' academic performance in Mandarin language proficiency. Questionnaires were distributed to 35 undergraduate students who took Mandarin as third language to analyse the students’ perspectives on the effectiveness of the nine active teaching-learning methods accordingly. A Mandarin proficiency test was also administered to the samples twice, as a pre-test and post-test, to examine the effectiveness of the nine active teaching-learning methods. From the t-test analysis conducted, it was found that there was a significant difference in the mean score for pre-test (M=5.77) and post-test group (M=9.40) (t=0, p<0.05). While the mean value of M>4 represent the students’ perspectives on the effectiveness of the active teaching-learning methods. Homework and practice are perceived as most effective among all the nine active teaching-learning methods. Hence, it can be concluded that through the implementation of the nine active teaching-learning methods, students have improved their academic performance significantly. It is recommended that a more qualitative approach to be used in order to explore in depth the implementation of the selected active teaching-learning methods in teaching Mandarin for foreign language learners.