Source use and argumentation behavior in L1 and L2 writing: a within-writer comparison

The aim of this study was to test whether Cummins’ Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis (LIH) might also apply to writing, by determining to what extent writers’ text quality, source use and argumentation behavior are related in L1 and L2, how effective writers’ behavior is and whether their L2 proficiency influenced the relations between them. To answer these questions, twenty students wrote four short argumentative source based essays each in L1 (Dutch) and four in L2 (English). A within-writer cross-linguistic comparison of their texts revealed that their L1 and L2 writing competencies appear to be related. Furthermore, writers’ source use behavior differed to some extent between languages, but the strong positive correlations found between source use features suggest that in most cases this was more a person than a language effect. Similarly, for argumentation behavior, results showed some learner specific features (e.g. inclusion of titles and reference lists), but differences between languages for others (e.g. the inclusion of both arguments and counter-arguments). Effects of the different source use and argumentation features studied on text quality were limited and no clear effect of L2 proficiency on writers’ behavior or their influence on text quality were found. Overall, in line with earlier research, these findings provide some additional support for Cummins’ LIH and the idea that writers might have a common underlying source for writing related knowledge and practices which they can apply in multiple languages.

     

大学英语教学中的文化导入研究

语言是文化的载体,是文化的一部分。在大学英语教学中,为了提高学生的英语综合应用能力,教师既要加强语言知识的教学,又要注重文化知识的导入,在阅读、视听说、词汇和语法等教学活动中适当地加入英语文化知识,培养学生的跨文化意识,提高学生的语言交际能力,使他们适当避免在实际语言交际中的文化误用。     

Language Transfer in Third Language Acquisition

Language transfer is one of the areas that have received special attention in the research of third language(L3).This paper focus es on the transfer of syntax from first language(L1) and second language(L2) in the early stage of third language acquisition(TLA).It aims at finding out whether L1 or L2 is the main source of transfer and trying to account for this phenomenon in light of typology and psy chotypology theories.A story telling task is used among 8 university students who have Chinese,English and French as L1,L2 and L3.The findings indicate that although both L1 Chinese and L2 English exert influence on L3 French production in the form of transfer,more L2 transfer occurs due to the typological and psychotypological similarity between L2 English and L3 French.The results confirm previous studies on the important roles of typological and psychotypological similarity in determining the source of transfer in a multilin gual’s language production.Some pedagogical implications of the findings are also discussed.     

Effective Writing Assessment and Instruction for Young English Language Learners

The total number of English Language Learners in the American public schools is more than 4.5 million students or 9.6% of the total school population. This article focuses on instructional writing strategies and assessments for English Language Learners in the elementary classroom. This article provides early childhood education teachers with information about differences amongst English Language Learners because they are not a homogenous group. English Language Learners’ academic abilities can range from emergent readers, writers, and speakers of English to proficient readers, writers, and speakers of English.     

略论文体学知识在英语教学中的应用

在英语学习中，我国学生因缺乏识别不同文体的能力而造成语域误用的现象比比皆是，要提高他们正确选择语城、使用得体英语的能力，非常有必要在教学中引入文体知识。本文首先从文体学的性质入手，讨论了当前中国英语教学的现状，进而从语音、词汇、句法、语篇四个层面分析了文体学在教学中的实际意义，并得出掌握文体学知识有助于提高学生的分析、鉴别、欣赏、乃至研究语言的能力的结论。     

词典使用与二语写作相关性的实证研究

对随机抽取的79名英语专业的大学生在英语写作过程中词典使用的原因和频数进行统计,利用SPSS软件对词典使用和二语写作水平之间的相关性,高分组和低分组对词典使用的差异性进行定量分析,得出以下结论：学生在写作过程中对词典的使用率不高;不当的词典使用技能与二语写作水平呈负相关;高分组和低分组学生在二语写作过程中对词典的使用存在显著差异。     

Using think-aloud protocols and interviews in investigating writers’ composing processes: combining concurrent and retrospective data

Research comparing the use of retrospective interviews (RIs) and think-aloud protocols (TAPs) as two data sources of writers’ composing processes is almost nonexistent. Trying to address this research gap, the present study examined the data obtained from the task-specific RIs and TAPs about the composing processes of 30 second language (L2) writers. Each participant thought aloud by concurrently verbalizing thoughts while performing an argumentative writing task, and then was interviewed immediately after the think-aloud session about their composing processes. The RI and TAP data was analyzed and compared in terms of five aspects of L2 writers’ composing: pre-writing stage, while-writing planning, first language (L1) use, composing problems and problem-solving, and text reviewing and changing. Though the results generally indicate that concurrent verbalizations provide much richer data than RIs about L2 writers’ composing processes, RIs were found to be a valuable source for revealing the ‘why’ of such processes. Besides, the gap between the data provided by the two sources differed from one composing aspect to another. Recommendations for how to optimally combine and make use of the two data sources in writing process research are provided.     

交际教学法在英语教学中的运用

中职学生应用英语能力普遍偏低,主要原因在于中职学校现行的英语教学法中,情景呈现和语言结构练习所教的只是构造正确英语句子的能力。在分析中职英语教学现状和概述交际教学法的基础上,探讨了交际教学法在中职英语教学中的具体应用,以提高中职学生运用英语的能力。     

Vocabulary Use by Low, Moderate, and High ASL-Proficient Writers Compared to Hearing ESL and Monolingual Speakers

The written English vocabulary of 72 deaf elementary school students of various proficiency levels in American Sign Language (ASL) was compared with the performance of 60 hearing English-as-a-second-language (ESL) speakers and 61 hearing monolingual speakers of English, all of similar age. Students were asked to retell "The Tortoise and the Hare" story (previously viewed on video) in a writing activity. Writing samples were later scored for total number of words, use of words known to be highly frequent in children's writing, redundancy in writing, and use of English function words. All deaf writers showed significantly lower use of function words as compared to their hearing peers. Low-ASL-proficient students demonstrated a highly formulaic writing style, drawing mostly on high-frequency words and repetitive use of a limited range of function words. The moderate- and high-ASL-proficient deaf students' writing was not formulaic and incorporated novel, low-frequency vocabulary to communicate their thoughts. The moderate- and high-ASL students' performance revealed a departure from findings one might expect based on previous studies with deaf writers and their vocabulary use. The writing of the deaf writers also differed from the writing of hearing ESL speakers. Implications for deaf education and literacy instruction are discussed, with special attention to the fact that ASL-proficient, deaf second-language learners of English may be approaching English vocabulary acquisition in ways that are different from hearing ESL learners.     

从交际法教学谈英语教学理念和实践

本文集中讨论了面对加入WTO 后带来的挑战,如何以交际法教学的理念指导我们外语教学的改革。文章回顾了西方国家外语教学的发展与现状,探讨了语言习得理论、交际法教学和以学生为中心教学法的应用价值。本文还分析了我国外语教学中存在的问题,并提出了解决问题,改进外语教学的刍议。     

英文写作的模仿与创造

本认为中国学生英语作存在的问题不是滥用模仿造成的，从某种角度讲，是未能从内容和形式上习得西方人的写作习惯。章就中国学生英写作中出现的主要问题，剖析第一语言(L1)写作和第二语言(L2)写作之间及初级写作和熟练写作之间的异同，提出加强初级写作的模仿能力和挖掘熟练写作的创造能力的思路。     

小组互动是英语交际法教学的有效方法

小组互动是英语交际法教学的先进组织形式,通过在不同教学环节中的灵活运用,可有效激发学生学习英语的兴趣,为学生提供更多实践机会,显著提高教学质量。     

Evaluation of intervention on Chinese graduate students’ understanding of textual plagiarism and skills at source referencing

Abstract

Textual plagiarism is a serious violation of established academic protocols, but it requires considerable writing experience and care to avoid as well. Although student understanding of textual plagiarism and their plagiaristic behaviour in English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts have been quite well researched, few studies have sought to evaluate instructional interventions specifically designed to reduce plagiarism by empowering student writers with a better knowledge of plagiarism and skills at source referencing. To the best of our knowledge, no study to date has ever systematically assessed students’ understanding of plagiarism and their source referencing performance in response to intervention. This classroom-based research, at a university in Beijing, aimed to discover whether a 6-hour block of instruction could facilitate better understanding of plagiarism and appropriate source referencing skills. The results showed that the intervention did generally give students a better appreciation of how textual plagiarism looks and significantly reduced blatant and subtle plagiarism in their writing. However, students’ heavy reliance on original source language did frequently reoccur in student writing if in less clear-cut ways. Some helpful lessons were drawn from this study.     

The differences in error rate and type between IELTS writing bands and their impact on academic workload

This paper attempts to demonstrate the differences in writing between International English Language Testing System (IELTS) bands 6.0, 6.5 and 7.0. An analysis of exemplars provided from the IELTS test makers reveals that IELTS 6.0, 6.5 and 7.0 writers can make a minimum of 206 errors, 96 errors and 35 errors per 1000 words. The following section explores the differences in error patterns between IELTS 6.0, 6.5 and 7.0 writers and a proposition is made that the IELTS 7.0 writer shows some convergence of error types found among native English writers. In regard to workload issues, the paper discusses the impact of errors as a distraction which affects reading time and gives an indication of the amount of extra workload that may be required to assess IELTS 6.0, 6.5 and 7.0 writing. The paper concludes with remarks about entrance requirements for tertiary study and suggests that it may be simpler to raise entry standards than attempt to remediate the writing of students with low IELTS scores.     

Improving students' pronunciation through accent reduction software

This study aimed to find out whether integrating accent reduction software in advanced English language classes at the university level would result in improvements in students’ pronunciation at the segmental and sup‐rasegmental levels. The study made use of a quasi‐experimental research design. Two classes at the Department of Foreign Language Education at Middle East Technical University in Turkey participated in the study. Whilst one class (the control group) followed traditional instruction, the other class (experimental group) followed instruction which integrated use of accent reduction software in a multimedia language laboratory. Based on the results of the study, it is suggested that especially in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) settings where natural target language input is scarce, technology has a lot to offer, and EFL learners may be provided with exposure and practice/interaction opportunities in the target language through specifically designed software programs.     

Rationale and strategies for American Sign Language intervention

A Midwest school district established a demonstration Total Communication Project. Its goal was for teachers to become consistent in their role modeling of English and American Sign Language (ASL). English was the primary language of the classroom and ASL was used as an intervention tool. There has been little research on the effectiveness of ASL in the classroom. By implementing an ASL intervention program this project is a first step in establishing an environment conducive to investigating the effectiveness of ASL intervention for teaching deaf students. This paper describes: (a) techniques used for identifying classroom situations that call for the use of ASL; (b) discourse situations that influence the use of different language codes in total communication classrooms; and (c) guidelines for code-switching between English and ASL.     

Revisiting the Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Writing Instruction in a Multicultural Context

Given the multimodal and multicultural character of modern English, English Language Teaching should meaningfully reflect this. Although some attempts have been made, adequate attention has not been paid to reforming writing pedagogy. This paper presents the findings of a two-year research project on writing instruction in the Singapore English Language classroom, which caters for a mixture of EFL (English as a foreign language), L2 (second language) and L1 (first language) learners. Data were gathered from six secondary school teachers via observations and interviews through which their common practices and beliefs were established. Our findings revealed an extensive use of examination-centred practices based on functional literacy, routine procedures and standardisation, rather than a pedagogy that promotes social equity and cultural and linguistic diversity as advocated by the New London Group. Following their work, we argue that student agency, critical literacy, and socially and culturally situated learning should be integrated into all writing classrooms for effective learning to take place.     

略论ESL写作教学中的"产品法"与"过程法"

对英语作为第二语言(ESL)的写作教学来说,"以过程为中心"的方法较诸"以产品为中心"的方法可能更为有效.作为一种写作教学方法,"过程法"注重写作的过程,因而在实施中特别重视写作过程中的不同阶段,并就各阶段设置了多种多样的练习活动,以使学生写出更有意义的作品.然而,我们不能将"过程法"降为一种具有规定技巧和惯例的"办法",而应创设有效的写作学习环境,在这种环境中,学生不仅对写作感到轻松愉快,而且能自主探索并培育个性化的写作方法.     

Teachers’ implicit theories and use of ICTs in the language classroom

This qualitative and exploratory case study sought to examine if and how implicit theories influence the implementation of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the language classroom in Chile. To achieve this goal, data was gathered from nine experienced university instructors in English as a Second Language. Based on semi-structured interviews, a self-assessment skill survey, a record of the equipment available and document analyses, the authors’ findings are presented in three sections: perceived affordances of ICTs, use of ICTs in practice and challenges for implementation of ICTs. They set out and discuss each theme, and conclude with suggestions for further research and pedagogical implications.     

Transfer of reading-related cognitive skills in learning to read Chinese (L1) and English (L2) among Chinese elementary school children

This study investigated transfer of reading-related cognitive skills between learning to read Chinese (L1) and English (L2) among Chinese children in Hong Kong. Fifty-three Grade 2 students were tested on word reading, phonological, orthographic and rapid naming skills in Chinese (L1) and English (L2). The major findings were: (a) significant correlations between Chinese and English measures in phonological awareness and rapid naming, but not in orthographic skills; (b) significant unique contribution of Chinese and English rapid naming skills and English rhyme awareness for predicting Chinese word reading after controlling for all the Chinese and English cognitive measures; (c) significant unique contribution of English phonological skills and Chinese orthographic skills (a negative one) for predicting English word reading after controlling for all the English and Chinese cognitive measures; and (d) significant unique contribution of Chinese rhyme awareness for predicting English phonemic awareness. These findings provide initial evidence that developing reading-related cognitive skills in English may have facilitative effects on Chinese word reading development. They also suggest that Chinese orthographic skills or tactics may not be helpful for learning to read English words among ESL learners; and that Chinese rhyme awareness facilitates the development of English phonemic awareness which is an essential skill predicting ESL learning.