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Facilitating the Switch to Asia-wide EAL Dialogues: 
Wikinomics/English Corners-Meetups/WeCHAT… 

Kevin Gaudette  

Shanghai Industry and Commerce Foreign Languages College, China 
chinamoviemagic@gmail.com 

 

 
Abstract 

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). 

 

Keywords: WeCHAT, English Corner, EAL, MALL, Role Play, PBL 

  

 
 

Introduction  
If the world's ELT is culturally Anglo American oriented or dominated, what is going to happen 
when Japanese and Chinese meet? When they meet, it is unlikely that they will talk about London 
or New York.  

(Honna, 2005, p. 86) 
 

If we declare that we value different perspectives, as a commitment to dialogic literacy will lead 
us to do, perspectives of those new to a discipline or to academia, perspectives different from ours 
culturally, then we must develop practices which also value these differences. Such practices in 
turn commit us to a dialogic theory of learning that sees knowledge not only as the product of 
disciplined inquiry, where well-established conventions allow the accumulation of co-ordinated 
data, but also as the product of ongoing discourse, where different perspectives draw on the power 
of the negative to lead to a higher integration of understandings. Practices that value difference 
and a dialogic approach to language and learning are not easy to formulate or to employ in our 
academic environment.  

(Cooper, 1998, p. 82) 
 
 

Dewey (1910/1991) argued that learning is most effective when it is situated in an authentic, real world 

context and that this context is social as well as physical. Vygotsky’s (1986) zone of proximal 

development theory has been interpreted (by Lave & Wenger, 1991, among others) to mean that students 

learn better collaboratively because it is dialogue with others which pushes them into this “societal” space 

between the everyday behavior of the individua l and social practice (p. 48). This space is dynamic in that 

it is itself changing, and influenced by the individuals in it, through “the negotiated character of meaning” 

(p. 33). 

 

Swan and Shea (2005) identify three, distinctively social, main themes of learning theory: 

• Cognition is situated in particular social contexts (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989; 

Lave & Wenger, 1991) 

• Knowing is distributed across groups (Cole, 1991; Perkins, 1993) 

• Learning takes place in communities (Lipman, 2003; Scardemalia & Bereiter, 1996; Wenger, 

1998). 



AsiaCALL Online Journal (ISSN 1936-9859) 2014 – Special Issue – AsiaCALL2013 Proceedings, Kevin Gaudette 

These themes underpin many of the prevailing theories of online pedagogy, such that these approaches 

require students to engage with their course content through online discussion with their peers. This has 

proved difficult to achieve online (Kreijns, Kirschener & Jochems, 2003; Pawan, Paulus, Yalcin & Chang, 

2003; Swan, 2004). 

Such difficulties in transformation processes have been analyzed by AtKisson, an experienced theorist and 
activist in the field of paradigm shifts:  

1. Promote the new. Or..."increase the perceived value of the new idea. This is the principal work 
of the Change Agents, but they certainly depend upon the work of the Innovators, who make a 
'cool' product initially."  

2. Critique the old. Or..."decrease the perceived value of the status quo by attacking it, either 
directly or subtly, in short, making the old way of doing things seem uncool. This is generally the 
work of the Iconoclasts, though Change Agents also help .”  

3. Facilitate the switch. "This is the most important and the least obvious strategy for making 
change happen. It is also where many change efforts fail, because they forget to reduce the 
perceived cost of making the change." (AtKisson, pp. 193-194)   

Facilitate the Switch: WeCHAT 

(NOTE: The strategies to “Facilitate the Switch” also have relevance for users of Asia’s other popular 

services, such as KakaoTalk, LINE, SKYPE and WhatsApp, which was purchased by Facebook for $19 

billion in February 2014. For a comparison with other services, and a description of unique elements in 

WeCHAT, especially Audio Messaging, see Ma, 2014.)  

 

Communicating with WeCHAT is verifiably ‘cool’. According to GlobalWebIndex, WeChat is the fifth 

most-used smartphone app worldwide (Millward, 2013). In October 2013 WeChat claimed it had over 450 

million registered China-based users and over 150 million registered international users, covering over 

200 countries and regions. Languages supported include traditional/simplified Chinese, English, 

Indonesian, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Malay, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Italian, Thai, Vietnamese, 

Hindi and Russian. WeChat has Facebook groups for Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Malaysia, 

Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Turkey, Argentina, Australia. (Facebook remains banned in China.) 

WeChat provides multimedia communication with text messaging, hold-to-talk voice messaging, 

broadcast (one-to-many) messaging, photo/video sharing, location sharing, and contact-information 

exchange. WeChat supports social networking via shared streaming content feeds and location-based 

social plug-ins ("Shake", "Look Around", and "Drift Bottle") to connect with and chat with local and 

international WeChat users. Tencent, the parent company of WeCHAT, set up a 500 million RMB 

investment fund in 2011, focused on online entertainment content. The investment included a 4.4% stake 

in Huayi Brothers Media, producer and distributor of some of China's most popular television productions 

and films, such as those by well-regarded Director Feng Xiaogang: Bu Jian Bu San (Be There or Be 

Square) and If You Are the One. Such a synergy certainly could facilitate the use of WeCHAT for movie-

based AsiaCALL activities for learning English, Mandarin and other languages, while discussing HuaYi 

movies. Perhaps Tencent/HuaYi would be interested in becoming a Sponsor/Partner of AsiaCALL?  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GlobalWebIndex
http://www.facebook.com/WeChatHK
http://www.facebook.com/wechatTW
http://www.facebook.com/wechatindia
http://www.facebook.com/wechatthai
http://www.facebook.com/wechatmalaysia
http://www.facebook.com/wechatid
http://www.facebook.com/wechatsingapore
http://www.facebook.com/WeChatTR
http://www.facebook.com/WechatArg
http://www.facebook.com/WeChatAustralia


AsiaCALL Online Journal (ISSN 1936-9859) 2014 – Special Issue – AsiaCALL2013 Proceedings, Kevin Gaudette 

 
                                                         Source: Tencent, Media Reports                                                    

           

                                                    
           

Facilitate the Switch: English Corners/Meetup Groups  

My interest in the English Corner (EC) concept was germinated in 1969 in Sierra Leone, West Africa, 

when I was serving as Coordinator/Curriculum Developer for the Mende Language Training Program for 

incoming Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs). As a PCV-in-training in the 1968 Mende program, I had felt 

frustrated by the AudioLingualMethod and the continuous repetition of Sentence Patterns, without an 

opportunity for experimentation/creation. After the 2-month training program, I became a village Primary 

School “English Sentence Pattern” teacher, and later was allowed to transfer into the  Agricultural 

Development program. As the only foreigner in my village, I made rapid progress in the Mende language, 

scored a 3+ in the Foreign Service Institute oral test, and was invited to run the 1969 Mende Language 

Training Program. There I developed a “deschooling” activity, by training local children to ask the PCVs 

questions which they would be regularly asked by Mendes, as well as to engage in simple, unscripted NS 

conversation with each other, with the PCV trainees listening, and expanding their i+1 limits.  Key 

elements in the Training Program included: many NSs/NNSs talking at the same time, as at a normal 

social gathering; learners able to experiment with various words/structures and get one-on-one feedback 

http://technode.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/WeChat.gif


AsiaCALL Online Journal (ISSN 1936-9859) 2014 – Special Issue – AsiaCALL2013 Proceedings, Kevin Gaudette 

from NSs; lowered “affective filter”; a natural “information gap”/a TPR-Story environment; Role Playing. 

All this was many years before I’d trained briefly with Lozanov (at SALT Conference in 1977), and some 

years before I had even heard of Asher or Curran, or Krashen, or Gattegno or Stevick or Lozanov.  

My experience with English Corners/Clubs began in 1982, where I did a Qualitative Evaluation of an 

English Club, for a rival English School. In Macau in 1983, I had a contract with the Macao Post and 

Telegraph Co., and developed an intensive English Club in my apartment, using Video segments of 

movies for developing Listening Comprehension/Role Play/Discussion. In Taiwan in 1985, I worked full-

time at an EC. During my decade in Los Angeles (1990-99), I often participated in the weekly Japanese-

English Club, developed by a Japanese-American teacher with the L.A. Adult Education Dept. While in 

China (1999-2011), I regularly participated in public ECs, wherever I was living/teaching. At an English 

Club in Shanghai I initiated a project bringing together Chinese learners of English and foreigners 

learning Chinese, to view and discuss segments of Chinese movies. In Ho Chi Minh City I participated 

several times in the lively and crowded ECs at the government-run Youth Center, with hundreds of chatty 

folks—both young and old--in multiple classrooms. After a brief meeting, the Youth Center’s Director 

enthusiastically welcomed me to use an in-class projector, and I gave a well-received demonstration of my 

MovieMagic approaches for using movie segments for Description/RolePlay/Discussion. 

 

The first known English Corners began informally in China after Deng Xiao Peng’s “Opening up” to the 

world in 1980, and they sprouted up all over the country as English learners and curious observers came 

together. China’s ECs are now nation-wide, and they offer an excellent opportunity to “facilitate the 

switch” to initiate an Asia-wide network of educators and learners using WeCHAT and Wikinomics-

based Mass Collaboration for Digital Dialoging. For these past thirty years, China’s unique development 

in the history of Non-Formal Education has been taking root and spreading throughout the country. These 

spontaneous, grassroots activities have no formal syllabus, curriculum, admission policies, graduation 

ceremonies, placement tests or any of the other policies and procedures we in Academia have come to 

think of as indispensable to learning. Usually weekly, sometimes daily, ECs take place in public parks, 

university campus spots, private schools, tea houses, KFCs etc. 

 

After the trauma of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), it was a liberating experience for people to have 

freedom of assembly as well as (discrete) speech with strangers. ECs were closed for some time after the 

1989 Tienanmen incident. At the typical public EC, learners of various levels, ranging from a handful to 

over one hundred, gather together in small clusters, talking about (1) whatever seems “proper”, (2) 

whatever interests them, or (3) whatever they are able to say. As at a vibrant social gathering, EC folks 

often circulate from cluster to cluster, checking out for interesting individuals, attractive group dynamics, 

and suitable English levels. In sharp contrast to China’s typical teacher-centered, book-based, English 

classrooms, China’s ECs are high-energy, non-formal, learner-centered, English-speaking environments.  

(Gaudette, 2007) 

 

In many of China's major cities, there is an active EC somewhere every day of the week. However, after 

thirty years of expansion throughout the nation, ECs remain as they were in the pre-Internet era—

unconnected and ad hoc. ECs are often criticized, both by advanced Chinese learners as well as by 

English-speaking foreigners, because many of the less-advanced EC participants continuously ask stock 

questions: "Where are you from? What is your favorite movie? Do you like China? Do you like Chinese 

food? Do you like Chinese people?”  Clearly, there is a need for continued evolution in the English 

Corners. One limitation is that the process lacks whole-brained context and content. Many advanced 

English learners can cynically talk about current events, without discussing creative alternatives. Less-

advanced learners, like folks on a first date, can struggle nervously to find a topic they can discuss. 

Frequently the talking can become dominated by a few (male) advanced English speakers/thinkers, while 



AsiaCALL Online Journal (ISSN 1936-9859) 2014 – Special Issue – AsiaCALL2013 Proceedings, Kevin Gaudette 

a small crowd listens passively. The time is ripe for English Corners to evolve to a new level of 

development and effectiveness. Synergizing WeCHAT, movie-based role play/discussion and 

Wikinomics dynamics can promote whole-brained English-learning, critical thinking, emotional well-

being, positive group dynamics and income-generation (for highly motivated EC participants).  

The worldwide phenomenon of Meetup Groups offers an excellent opportunity for experimentation and 

evolution of the English Corner process.  According to the Meetup website (www.meetup.com), there are 

284 Learn English Meetup groups, with 51,272 members, in 146 cities in 31 countries. In China there 

Meetup groups in nearly 50 cities.  Worldwide, a Meetup starts somewhere every 13 seconds. Over 9.5 

million people have joined long-lasting face-to-face local Meetup Groups, around shared interests and 

purposes. According to its Website (http://www.meetup.com/about/), the Meetup Mission is “to revitalize 

local community and help people around the world self-organize”, based uon the belief “people can 

change their personal world, or the whole world, by organizing themselves into groups that are powerful 

enough to make a difference.” Using the Meetup Website, EAL speakers and learners can develop and 

promote sustainable income-generating groups which are specifically focused upon specific interests.  

 

Facilitate the Switch:  After 10 Years   

Here in Shanghai, we intend to launch a Meetup/WeCHATgroup focused specifically upon a synergy of:                    

 English-Mandarin Corner as a Learning Community 

 Role Play and Discussion of Movies 

 Speech-making and Discussion from TED and RSA Animate presentations 

 Wikinomics-based Peer Production of EAL materials, using WeChat and VoiceThread platforms 

 Mind Training, using Yoga and Tai Chi. 

WeCHAT and Meetup can help us materialize the sort of synergy project which, in 2004, I described on 

my semi-blog, URL: http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=16848 : 

========================================================================= 

ChinaMovieMagic 

 

 

 

Joined: 02 Nov 

2004 

Posts: 2102 

Location: 

YangShuo 

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2004 6:38 pm    Post subject: Movie Magic--

Principles/Practices 
 

 

Key Elements  

 high ratio of native/advanced English speakers to English learners  

 a bilingual Mandarin-English environment--bringing together Chinese interested in improving 

their English, as well as foreigners  

 a variety of activities available for the participants  

1. free conversation  

2. viewing/discussion of movie/movie segment  

3. discussion of movie reviews  

4. movie-based role plays  

5. a wide range of other activities--Theatre Games,  

discussion topics, public speaking training, Karaoke singing  

http://www.meetup.com/
http://www.meetup.com/about/
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=16848
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=12375&sid=d0b35e388c8e8b6ca16067ef234a8f8b
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?p=163992&sid=d0b35e388c8e8b6ca16067ef234a8f8b#163992


AsiaCALL Online Journal (ISSN 1936-9859) 2014 – Special Issue – AsiaCALL2013 Proceedings, Kevin Gaudette 

Over the years, L2 teachers have developed a wide range of communicative techniques based upon the 

creative use of movie segments, such as:  

VIEWING COMPREHENSION (with sound off)  

DIALOGUE BUILDING (with sound off)  

AURAL ONLY PREDICTION (with sound only)  

PREDICTIVE VIEWING--What will happen?  

REVERSE PREDICTION--What happened before the sequence seen?  

JIGSAW VIEWING (Only half the viewers see the sequence, and they relate it to those who 

haven't. Replay it to compare.)  

Such approaches can create an enhanced learning environment, in harmony with Krashen's principles:  

A RICH VARIETY OF COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT  

A LOW-ANXIETY SITUATION  

REAL MESSAGES OF REAL INTEREST  

A short (1 to 3 minutes) close-captioned movie segment offers the learner a synergistic schemata of 

opportunities for comprehensible INPUT. The visual images themselves are comprehensible and are 

stored in the students' memories as EXPERIENCES, rather than as a language lesson that must be 

"studied/learned" because the teacher will test the students for their ability to "remember" the lesson.  

A schematic tapestry of English words becomes associated with the movie's images and emotions. Plot, 

character, emotion--these are the 'hooks' by which the language becomes comprehensible input and stored 

intake. This dynamic is quite different from the artificial approaches typically used--vocabulary lists, 

linear progressions in grammar complexity etc.)  

 

To use another metaphor, the memories of the movie segment can be seen as gravitational schemata 

which can attract and retain words associated with the images. As the learner thinks of a scene, an  

ever-expanding constellation of words and sentences can become linked in the memory with a pleasant 

(LOW-ANXIETY) experience, rich with REAL MESSAGES OF REAL INTEREST. As the learner 

thinks of one character, a tremendous variety of adjectives and actions can become part of the schemata.  

This is in harmony with the episode hypothesis, which states that "text (i.e. discourse in any form) will be 

easier to produce, understand, and recall to the extent that it is motivated and structured 

episodically...these ideas lead to the supposition that perhaps second language teaching would be more 

successful if it incorporated principles of good story writing along with the benefits of sound linguistic 

analysis." (Oller)  

 

In addition to discussion of the movies, Members and Dialogue Partners will also be active in role play 

based upon the movie segments. In Why Drama Works: A Psycholinguistic Perspective, Susan Stern of 

UCLA brings together a wide range of research relating to the power of role play for creating an enjoyable 

and effective second language environment: 

(https://www.academia.edu/1638922/Why_drama_works_A_psycholinguistic_perspective)  

======================================================================= 

Movie-based role play can be a valuable method for helping students to become empathic language 

learners. Psychodrama pioneer Adam Blatner M.D. is a pioneer in the field of role play. His website 

(http://www.blatner.com/adam/papers.html ) contains over 100 of his papers on Psychodrama, creativity, 

play and other areas. Blatner describes empathy as (1) an ability to imagine with some degree of accuracy 

what it's like to be in the predicament of the other person, and (2) the ability to communicate that 

awareness so the other person feels understood. Blatner views the skill of empathy as a matter mainly of 

focused imagination, picturing in the mind what it might be like to be in the other person's predicament. 

(Blatner, 2010). 

 



AsiaCALL Online Journal (ISSN 1936-9859) 2014 – Special Issue – AsiaCALL2013 Proceedings, Kevin Gaudette 

The skill of empathy also involves an integration of remembering, rational thinking, intuition, and feeling, 

all of which support the active imaginative process. One warm-up technique I have adopted from Blatner 

is "the Talk Show Host Game." (Blatner& Blatner, 1991). This technique, as well as many others 

described by Blatner, can easily be used in English Corners and with WeCHAT (Blatner, 1995). Role 

playing is a natural vehicle of language learning because it is an extension of the imaginative, pretend play 

of childhood (Blatner & Blatner, 1991). Role playing requires a build-up of spontaneity in its participants 

(Blatner, 2009). In my classes over the past 12 years in China, I have seen that such movie-based role 

plays can facilitate these processes of imagination, spontaneity and empathy, and can promote 

conversational fluency. 

 

Facilitate the Switch: Wikinomics/Peer Production/Partnership Values 

In Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, wide-ranging examples are given to show 

that mass collaboration is “helping to transform the way we conduct science, create culture, inform and 

educate ourselves, and govern our communities and nations” (Tapscott & Williams, 2008, p.xii). The 

organic self-organizing dynamics of such peer production communities are contrasted with those of those 

of the typical multinational entity and its “corporate command-and-control hierarchy” (p. 25). English 

Corners (whether in-person and/or online) are well-suited for using movie-based WeCHAT activities, and 

morphing into mass collaboration/peer production platforms, for digital-based English-/Mandarin-

/Japanese-/etc.-teaching and/or, and (for the most motivated) income-generation, as skilled Conversation 

Partners/Material Developers, especially as micro-enterprise projects for the many experienced English 

teachers in India and the Philippines. 

Such a project is in harmony with the Wikinomics best-practices for successful peer production:  

1. The object of production is information or culture, since this keeps the cost of  participation  low 

for contributors; 

2. Tasks can be chunked out into segments which individuals can contribute in small increments and 

independently of other producers; 

3. The costs of integrating these multiple pieces into a finished end product, including the leadership 

and quality-control mechanisms, must be low (Tapscott & Williams, p. 182). 

 

Consider the following examples from Wikinomics  (pp. 183-84): 

 Wind-up Records--fans have voluntarily invested over a quarter of a million hours producing and 

sharing more than three thousand music videos, using their PCs to synchronize Japanese animé art 

with popular music tracks to create animé music videos. The website 

(http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/) contains a large collection of these videos, and it also 

offers free training and information-sharing regarding editing, and other technical or aesthetic 

areas.   

 Creative Commons Developing Nations License has allowed creators to make their works 

available for attributed free distribution (copies can be freely shared, providing the original 

creator is credited) in the Global South, while still retaining all copyright control in the Global 

North. Creative Commons has developed a mashup platform (http://ccmixter.org), which uses the 

Mass Collaboration/Open Source phrase "Download, Sample, Cut-up, Share" and describes its 

focus: "ccMixter is a community music site featuring remixes licensed under Creative Commons 

where you can listen to, sample, mash-up, or interact with music in whatever way you want." 

 BBC's Backstage project (http://backstage.bbc.co.uk) invites developers to create new prototype 

services built around BBC content. 

 BBC's Creative Archive initiative, (http://www.bbc.co.uk/creativearchive/?inc=News), has 

opened up portions of the vast BBC TV archives, as well as film clips from the British Film 

http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/
http://ccmixter.org/
http://creativecommons.org/
http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/creativearchive/?inc=News


AsiaCALL Online Journal (ISSN 1936-9859) 2014 – Special Issue – AsiaCALL2013 Proceedings, Kevin Gaudette 

Institute, allowing the public the legal freedom to use/mix/mash the content as they like, for 

noncommercial purposes.  

 Taking ITGlobal, whose membership has exceeded 230,000 active members from about 261 

countries. TIG's website (www.tigweb.org/about/) uses as key words: "Inspire. Inform. Involve" 

and describes its mission as: "prepare students for today's knowledge economy...provide 

opportunities for learning, capacity-building, cross-cultural awareness, and self-development 

through the use of Information and Communication Technologies." TIG could be an excellent 

partner in helping develop a global language-learning PeerProduction/Mass Collaboration 

movement, which would be in harmony with TIG mission, as well as an income generator for TIG 

and its members. 

  

Community Language Learning and Peer Production Communities  

For the whole-brained Wikinomics-based morphing of ECs with WeCHAT/Meetup, next steps could 

include: 

1. Developing WeCHAT-/Meetup-based materials and training to expand the content and process of 

English Corners, by promoting the use of Role Play/Discussion of movies and presentations such 

as those developed by TED.com and RSA Animate. Before coming to the EC, participants would 

be able to prepare for the process, by: 

 Viewing movie segments/TED/RSA Animate shows on-line, 

 Reading selected segments  of movie reviews (such as those from www.metacritic.com and 

www.imdb.com) and transcripts of the TED/RSA Animate shows 

 Vearing/reading discussions of the movie/movie reviews/TED/RSA Animate on 

VoiceThread/WeCHAT,  

 Hearing/preparing audio-edited versions of these discussions (using software such as 

Audacity for repetition, echo, dichotic/bilingual input etc.),  

 Preparing role plays based upon the movie segments/TED/RSA Animate.  

. 

2. Developing  bi-lingual Community Language Learning  groups at ECs/Meetups, based upon 

Mandarin-English/Mandarin-Japanese/Korean-Japanese/etc. role play and discussion of chosen 

movie segments and TED/RSA Animate shows, while using WeCHAT (with only  audio, or with 

both audio and video functions) to record (only with quality microphones) the process. These 

bilingual translations/recordings can be valuable, both for lower-level learners (allowing them to 

hear/record their Native Language speech translated into their Target Language), and for more 

advanced learners (serving as translators, promoting their bi-lingual fluency, with assistance from 

their peers in the group). By developing a bi-lingual environment in China’s ECs/Meetups, for 

example, more English-speaking Mandarin learners may choose to participate.  

 

For mobile audio access, bi-lingual dichotic audio materials (Aarons, 1987/1990) can also be 

produced and tested, particularly regarding the nature of mixed hemispheral dominance for 

native-level speakers of tonal languages such as Mandarin/Thai/Vietnamese etc. (BBC, 2003; 

University of California, Irvine,2006; Rice University,2009; Rice University,2012). Audio 

materials can also offer options for a variety of background “mind-music” selections (Halpern, 

2013).  

 

3. In the case of China, these Mandarin-English digital audio materials can be used for editing, via 

Wiki-style Mass Collaboration, for both English learners as well as for Mandarin learners, and 

using other Internet-based materials--in English and in Mandarin--for audio post-production. 

http://www.tigweb.org/about/
http://www.metacritic.com/
http://www.imdb.com/


AsiaCALL Online Journal (ISSN 1936-9859) 2014 – Special Issue – AsiaCALL2013 Proceedings, Kevin Gaudette 

While online, learners (of Mandarin or English) will collaborate with native speakers to edit 

digital audio according to their own Krashen-ian "I+1"comprehension levels. By editing for their 

own comprehension levels, using repeat, pulsing, silence, mind-music background etc., the 

learners can create a digital product which could also be suitable for millions of others at similar 

comprehension levels. Using Wiki-community formats, such individuals will be able to make 

connections with each other and collaborate on the co-production of language-learning materials, 

some for free and some for a fee. 

 

The modulation of attention to these intonation units can be facilitated with free audio-editing 

software (such as Audacity and NanoGong), allowing the editor/audience to both hear and see 

(especially with the zoom-in function) such intonation units. Various advanced editing methods 

(repetition, pulsing, silence, fade-in/fade-out, mind-music background, dichotic bilingual audio 

background, mix&mash-up) can be used to improve listening comprehension and memorability. 

Such editing can be a group Project-based Learning (PBL) process, in which students do the audio 

editing to suit their own levels of comprehension and personal preferences. These audio can be 

uploaded to VoiceThread.com files (each VoiceThread project can hold up to 1,000 audio files), 

and learners can select, comment on, and vote for audio-projects they prefer.  

 

As an example of the massive audio options available, consider the wide range of YouTube etc. videos 

relating to popular movies, and the possibilities for PBL/Mass Collaboration:  

 VoiceThread/WeCHAT members choose the movie reviews they wish to audio-edit and upload to 

VoiceThread as MP3 audio files, while posting the URL on EC/WeCHAT sites; 

 Then they and others comment (with text, audio, or Web-cam) upon:  

 The ideas/feelings expressed in the VoiceThread/WeCHAT audio 

 The comments of other VoiceThread/WeCHAT members. 

 

An optimal synergy of YouTube etc./VoiceThread/WeCHAT/PBL could include: 

 Memorable movie segments uploaded to YouTube etc., including current as well as classic scenes  

(such as those selected at www.filmsite.org) 

 VoiceThread/WeCHAT uploading of MP3 audio from the movie segments (both unedited, as well 

as edited in a variety of formats); 

 VoiceThread/WeCHAT uploading of movie reviews from www.metacritic.com; 

 VoiceThread/WeCHAT uploading of PBL by members, including (1) audio 

description/commentary about the scene/movies/characters, (2) audio commentary/discussion of 

fellow members’ uploads, (3) audio commentary/discussion about various movie reviews from 

www.metacritic.com (Chafe, 1998); 

 Downloading of Audio files to learners’ Smart Phones, allowing for mobile audio input, 

expanding the i+1 comprehension levels. 

 

The depth and vocabulary-range of such discussions can be expanded by the inclusion of movie reviews, 

especially in the format of www.metacritic.com, which gives both complete reviews as well as a graded 

scale of evaluations of the movie, with brief phrases (intonation units) from each review, showing the 

variety of opinions. These review-snippets can be used as another PBL activity, by having members 

choose which snippet(s) they wish to read aloud (with spirit!) and upload to the VoiceThread/WeCHAT 

project. First they could listen to a variety of uploaded VoiceThread/WeCHAT audio files, read by Native 

Speakers and others, with expressive voices, and (extremely important!) quality microphones.  These NSs 

and other members can later comment upon the readings of the other members. 

http://www.filmsite.org/
http://www.metacritic.com/
http://www.metacritic.com/
http://www.metacritic.com/


AsiaCALL Online Journal (ISSN 1936-9859) 2014 – Special Issue – AsiaCALL2013 Proceedings, Kevin Gaudette 

 

Metacritic Movie Review Segments 

                                http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-english-teacher 

 

“…where different perspectives draw on the power of the negative to lead to a higher integration 

of understandings. Practices that value difference and a dialogic approach to language and 

learning are not easy to formulate or to employ in our academic environment.”  

(Cooper, 1998, p. 82) 

 
75  The screenplay, by husband-wife team Dan and Stacy Chariton, is thin as a poker chip but as clever 

as it is contrived 

75 Sometimes it’s just plain fall-down funny. 

75 …could benefit from being a bit more daring. 

50 …a predictable and flimsy backstage farce…the husband-and-wife writing team of Dan and Stacey 

Chariton can’t decide whether they want to flatter or talk down to their audience.  

50 …feels like a movie written as a homework assignment…Unfortunately, the story goes soft when it 

should be at its most daring: The film loses its bite. 

50  The line between “cute” and “cutesy” is violated, repeatedly, in the sometimes funny, often cloying 

comedy “The English Teacher.”… That sense that it’s all pre-ordained mutes the film’s potential big 

laughs and makes even the chuckles few and far between. As an English teacher might put it, they aimed 

(and missed) at light comedy when they should have reached for farce. 

50 …boasts few surprises—except perhaps its message, which seems to be that selling out isn’t so bad. 

Chalk it up to a case of “write what you know.” 

50  …aims to channel great, time-honored storytelling without being able to tell a great story. 

40  It is a movie at odds with itself. 

30  A tragedy masquerading as a comedy and doing a disservice to both 

20…reveals that a respectable cast and much noisy boisterousness isn't enough to generate a single 

laugh…a cartoony stew of unlikable characters. 

20  a tone-deaf comedy flipping like a gasping fish between silly and maudlin…100 percent predictable, 

so there aren’t even shocks to wake you from the unfunny torpor…goes through the motions of allegedly 

dramatic romantic misunderstandings and overblown backstage hijinks. 

 

Conclusion 

The interactive Web 2.0 has transformed internet activities from passivity to peering: "sharing, 

socializing, collaborating and, most of all, creating loosely connected communities" (Tapscott & 

Williams, 2008, p. 41). Some US critics warn that Open Source and Wikinomics dynamics promote a 

trend to "collectivism." Digital pioneer Howard Rheingold points out: "Collectivism involves coercion 

and centralized control; collective action involves freely chosen self-selection and distributed 

coordination"  (Tapscott & Williams, 2008, p. 17). The Ohloh Website, which tracks the open source 

industry, lists over 1,400,000 people working voluntarily on 540,000 open source projects. In 

Wired Magazine this global open source movement is described as "the new socialism" (Kelly, 2009). 

http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-english-teacher


AsiaCALL Online Journal (ISSN 1936-9859) 2014 – Special Issue – AsiaCALL2013 Proceedings, Kevin Gaudette 

 

 
The Old  

Socialism 

 
The New  

Socialism 

Gaudetteity centralized among elite officials Power distributed among ad hoc participants 

Limited resources dispensed by the state Unlimited, free cloud computing 

Forced labor in government factories Volunteer group work a la Wikipedia 

Property owned in common Sharing protected by Creative Commons 

Government- controlled information Real-time Twitter and RSS feeds 

Harsh penalties for criticizing leaders Passionate opinions on the Huffington Post 

 

                                                 SOURCE: Wired Magazine 

 

If English Corners become Meetup-/WeCHAT-connected peer-production communities, members will 

both improve their English skills as well as develop the collaborative skills which will be increasingly 

valued in the new digital economies. For corporations, success in the new world of co-creation and 

combinatorial innovation will depend upon building a loyal base of innovators that strengthen 

institutional ecosystems. Using Meetup-WeCHAT synergies, ECs can facilitate the development of guild-

like peer production communities, with codes of conduct that set the formal and informal norms and rules 

of practice. Peer-to-peer reputation-rating can help to identify high-quality, reliable collaborators for 

projects. Engaging in such meaningful activities can cultivate social consciousness.  

 

Morphed ECs can serve as training grounds, preparing participants for success in the world of 

Wikinomics, based upon the principles of "openness, peering, sharing, and acting globally" (Tapscott & 

Williams, 2008, p.267), as well as  “…effective habits of discriminating tested beliefs from mere 

assertions, guesses, and opinions…sincere, and open-minded preference for conclusions that are properly 

grounded, and …methods of inquiry and reasoning appropriate to the various problems that present 

themselves.” (Dewey, 1910/1997, p. 28).     

 

We derive our competence from forming connections... Chaos is a new reality for knowledge 

workers... Unlike constructivism, which states that learners attempt to foster understanding by 

meaning-making tasks, chaos states that the meaning exists, the learner's challenge is to recognize 

the patterns which appear to be hidden. Meaning-making and forming connections between 

specialized communities are important activities.  

(Siemens, 2005, para. 15) 

 

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