Students as partners practices and theorisations in Asia: a scoping review

Promoting students as partners in a pilot study involving undergraduate students and instructors in Spanish as a foreign language courses

“…Students enrolled in the Spanish course learned material in a more engaging, multifaceted way, which helped them achieve course learning outcomes more efficiently, while internship students reached a point in their undergraduate careers that views them as autonomous, equitable beings that not only maneuver as language learners, but as teachers. The course instructors, therefore, reconceived their pedagogy as an interaction, rather than a process of transmission of theory under the instruction of a single professor (Curran, 2017;Liang & Matthews, 2021). Through partnership and collaboration in the design, development, and implementation of course activities, both students and instructors can positively influence student engagement and satisfaction in foreign language courses.…”

“…Research regarding pedagogical relationships between students and faculty has been gaining significant attention lately; in this study, we address the implementation of the SaP model in the higher education context of Spanish as a foreign language (SFL). Instruction that aims to teach individuals a foreign language has often been reliant on the presentation of theory under a single professor (Liang & Matthews, 2021). However, the introduction of the SaP model in the SFL classroom can create an environment that encourages autonomy and leadership (Liang & Matthews, 2021).…”

“…Instruction that aims to teach individuals a foreign language has often been reliant on the presentation of theory under a single professor (Liang & Matthews, 2021). However, the introduction of the SaP model in the SFL classroom can create an environment that encourages autonomy and leadership (Liang & Matthews, 2021). Our main contribution could be found most useful to individuals that are constantly searching for techniques that allow students to be more interactive and to apply theoretical concepts rather than learn them through traditional instruction.…”

Diversifying students-as-partners participants and practices

“…-Meng Zhang, student, from China, studying in Australia As indicated by the recent scoping review of SaP in Asian countries (Liang & Matthews, 2020), Asian SaP practitioners mainly followed the theoretical and practical experience from Western scholarship and predominantly positioned Confucianism as a barrier and challenge of successful SaP implementation in Asian universities, also evidenced by Kaur (2020) in the latest issue of IJSaP. However, Asian local cultures should not be ignored as SaP is perceived as a context-dependent and inclusive idea.…”

Students as partners: Challenges and opportunities in the Asian context

“…I spoke to several of my colleagues, went through the literature, and concluded that this predicament is the result of social and cultural norms that determine roles and expectations for different positions. Liang and Matthews (2020), in their recent publication discussing the state of SaP in Asia, also highlighted that Confucian heritage culture (CHS), which is a philosophy that drives thoughts, beliefs, and societal norms, can be a barrier in the shaping of such teaching and learning practices that call for role revision. It is difficult for individuals to adopt practices from other cultures that are incongruent with their own culture.…”