| The skit project, which has been part of the Elementary Chinese curriculum, has advantages and disadvantages. Observations of students' preparations and surveys of students' opinions were conducted in order to test the effectiveness of the skit project. The survey results verify that the skit project was successful at motivating students and improving integrated skills. The observations indicate a transition of students' working strategies and a transition of heritage students' typical role from Chinese 101 to Chinese 102. These changes indicate that a smaller language proficiency gap within a group can improve students' level of cooperation. The pedagogical implications of this research are that teachers should provide students with rich contexts, provide language chunks that go beyond the textbook, and create cooperative learning environments in order to maximize the benefits of skit projects for language learners. |
