Chinese language learners’ participation in a wechat online community of practice

Utilizing WeChat in Chinese language education has generated interest among Chinese language educators and researchers. Both its affordances and constraints have been documented in previous studies. However, discussion about how language learners participate in WeChat-supported activities remains scarce. This qualitative literature review analyzed relevant studies through the theoretical lens of Community of Practice (Wenger, 1998), focusing on the core construct—participation. The results show that current common practices have not fully tapped into the educational potential of WeChat to allow learners to fully participate. Different ways of using WeChat for educational purposes should be pedagogically sound and could be further explored. Additionally, participants’ transition towards full participation is not necessarily associated with language proficiency. Instead, three factors—affective, social and curricular—exert influence collectively.