Enhancing Foreign Language Students Reading and Social Skills through Read, Read, Trade

Abstract

The advent of 21st century curricula emphasise communication and collaboration as cornerstones of foreign language education. Currently, many Malaysian higher education Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) learners struggle with reading comprehension and feel anxious about learning a new language. Their concerns often revolve around understanding texts thoroughly and accessing effective social support from peers and instructors. In this context, this study introduces Read, Read, Trade (RRT), a collaborative learning approach that helps learners understand texts while improving their social skills. Guided by Kemmis and Taggart’s action research model, 24 first-level CFL learners participated in two cycles of learning activities. Their reading comprehension abilities and social performances were investigated through tests, observations, and interviews. The first cycle showed a strong improvement, with learners scoring an average of 3.92 points higher than pre-cycle test after using RRT; while the second cycle led to further improvement. Learners reported that RRT helped them develop stronger social skills by encouraging more meaningful interactions, active listening, and supportive peer feedback. This study offers insightful pedagogical implication specifically for foreign language instructors. Future research should expand to varied proficiency levels, include control groups, employ longitudinal designs, and test RRT’s transferability to other foreign language contexts.