Analysis Of "Coffee Break Chinese",a Podcast Program For Chinese Language Teaching Based On Cooperation Between Two Teachers

The mobile internet has changed the way learners learn,and one of the emerging mediums-podcasts-is a popular new option for young people to make efficient use of fragmented time for learning.This study uses Coffee Break Chinese,an excellent podcast,as the subject of the study,and summarises the pedagogical possibilities and advantages of teaching programmes in podcasts by comparing them with traditional classrooms and other teaching platform mediums;and analyses the common substitution methods of podcasts in the market based on the natural shortcomings of the podcast medium.The author also analyses the common problems of podcast-based teaching programmes: unimodality,lack of real-time interaction,lack of holistic lesson design,and replication of the traditional classroom leading to a boring classroom.Further,the author proposes the design requirements for the content of podcast-based teaching programmes in relation to the characteristics of the podcast medium itself and the shortcomings of existing podcast programmes: interestingness,practicality and overall programming.This study analyses the communication factors of Coffee Break Chinese,an excellent podcast,from the perspective of the 5W’s communication theory: firstly,the content is analysed,the vocabulary and grammar of all 40 episodes are counted and compared with the HSK syllabus;the characteristics of the communicator,the target audience and the communication medium are analysed.For its highly distinctive dualteacher collaborative hosting teaching model,case studies were conducted through specific single-episode discourses,through duration statistics,and analysis of discourse meaning and function.The study found that the foreign teacher takes up the majority of the programme’s time,and that he or she mainly uses questions during the programme as a way of guiding students’ thinking and driving the teaching sessions,while the Chinese host has a smaller amount of discourse,mainly showing and explaining,as a way of reducing unnecessary Chinese output and easing the burden of students’ absorption and comprehension.The podcast is student-centred,question-led and creates a relaxed and enjoyable chatting atmosphere to keep the programme interesting and interactive.The final analysis of the podcast is based on in-depth interviews with the listeners and their listening data on various platforms,and the evaluation and shortcomings of the podcast.The podcast is representative of the Chinese language teaching programmes in China,and will be an inspiration for the construction of such programmes and media,such as TV teaching and Mooc.