ABSTRACT
A peer teaching framework is outlined and implemented following an action research model in order to investigate the cognitive and social benefits of peer teaching and learning among beginner learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL). This chapter outlines the relevant theoretical background for the present study, which is based on Vygotsky's conceptual framework and theories underpinning the concepts of peer teaching, learner autonomy and motivation. It presents the methodology of the study and describes the cycles of bootstrapping during which the maturation of the participants' understanding of the teaching practice is established. The findings regarding the language improvement of both the peer learners and peer teachers correspond to different aspects of Boud's (2001) claim concerning the benefits of peer teaching. The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) is a key construct in understanding learning as a process of new-formation.
