I’m going to talk about inquiry-based learning in this post. Inquiry-based learning follows 5 steps, which are asking, investigating, creating, discussing, and reflecting. As “inquiry” in the name of the approach, a key characteristic of inquiry-based learning is that the learning process begins with questions or problems. Therefore, it is important to arouse learners’ curiosity and encourage them to ask questions and then guide them to find answers. Inquiry-based learning emphasizes the process of learning experiences that learners are encouraged to discover by using methods they created and come to a personal understanding of topics. After this, learners can form a small group and share what they found during discovering, and finally,

reflect on what they gained about the topic, which corresponds to another characteristic, active learning. Additionally, in contrast to conventional education such as direct instruction, in which learners passively study, inquiry-based learning is student-centered. It puts more emphasis on the role of learners rather than the role of instructors and promotes active participation. This approach also adds more flexibility to classes because it accommodates students with different learning styles, and they are free to pursue their own research interests. Inquiry-based learning allows learners to have a better and deeper understanding since they actively engage in learning.

Although inquiry-based learning is an effective approach, in my opinion, it does not align with our topic—Chinese language learning. Because our target learners are beginners, they do not equip with the ability to explore a new language by themselves. They are able to post questions about the new language; however, it is difficult for them to investigate the problem based on their prior knowledge of the new language and create a plan to study it.

Also, language learning is not as same as studying a new theory or a new concept which allows learners to explore by themselves. Since language learning involves four aspects, speaking, listening, reading, and writing, it requires more systematic instructions and guidance from instructors, which is a contrast to what inquiry-based learning emphasizes. Although every approach has its own advantages and disadvantages, but they all work best when they are tailored to the topic!