The process of designing and developing a Romanised Mandarin web-based instruction on ISD methodology for non-native learners in Malaysia

One of the ways to deliver a language course on learners´ demand using any computer connected to the Internet at anywhere and anytime is by developing a Web-based instruction (WBI). Besides, it can be more effective if WBI incorporates multimedia components. `A picture tells a thousand words´, thus, a Mandarin WBI that includes multimedia elements will increase the effectiveness in learning Mandarin. The objective of this paper is to describe the process of designing and developing a Hanyu Pinyin (Romanised Mandarin) WBI to teach non-native learners (Malay Mandarin learners) in learning Mandarin at a Malaysian university(UiTM). The Hanyu Pinyin WBI is tailored to tackle the weaknesses and to meet the specific needs of Malay learners. Hanyu Pinyin WBI is designed on the basis of Instructional System Design (ISD) methodology. This approach involves four phases: (1) analysis and design, (2) development, (3) implementation, and (4) evaluation of the instruction.