A Contrastive Study of Semantic Prosody between English Native Speak ers and Chinese English Learners——Case Study of “Avoid”

In this paper,the author uses data-driven and contrastive interlanguage analysis approach,applying AntConc 3.2.1 as the tool,to make a comparison between corpus FLOB and CLEC on the using of the word \"avoid\".The result shows that the se mantic prosodic tendency between the two communities is in great similarities but also have differences.Through comparison and analysis,the author finds the hidden reason and summarizes how to improve.     

A Study on the Effects of Online Interaction for the EFL Learners’ Writing Motivation

With the rapid development of information technology, how to utilize the Web in the field of language teaching has become a heated issue in the foreign language teaching reform around the whole world. For so many years, during the teachercentered English writing teaching process, students have no choice but to accept model essays and recite the well-performed sentences and structures. it is hard for teachers and students to conduct an effective interaction, which leads to students’ lacking of writing motivations. The author conducted the experiment with QQ group as a medium, and analyzed the results of the experiment among 66 students from Wuhan University, in order to study how to make good use of the network environment to promote the communication and interaction between students, and then enhance their writing motivation. The experimental data and discussions show that online interaction can motivate students to complete writing tasks, especially enhance their instrumental achievement and intrinsic motivation.     

Chinese EFL Teachers’ Attitudes toward Corpus Use in Collocation Instruction

The purpose of the present study was to investigate Chinese EFL(English as a Foreign Language)teachers’attitudes toward corpus use in collocation instruction.Fourteen Chinese EFL teachers from seven different colleges or universities answered a questionnaire asking their perceptions about corpus use in collocation instruction.The statistical analysis revealed that significant difference(t=2.449,df.=9,p=.0370.1)was found between males and females in their perception of the learnability of the searching technique in collocation corpus.Besides,the result also revealed that significant differences were found between novice and experienced teachers’perception of helpfulness of corpus in writing native-like sentences(t=5.75,df=11,p0.1),identifying collocation errors in English(t=5.75,df=11,p0.1),usefulness of corpus in searching for English collocations(t=2.93,df=12,p0.1),and advocacy of corpus to colleagues(t=5.75,df=11,p0.1).Finally,some pedagogical implications were put forward.     

Corpus-based Study on the use of \"really\" in Chinese Students’ Writing

This corpus-based study aims to explore if the high frequently used word \"really\" is at a risk of overused,underused or misused in the writing of Chinese learners.Then draw attention on English learning and teaching and raise learners’ awareness of the structural and collocation complexity of words.     

A Study of Chinese College Students’ Face Needs in EFL Class

Based on Brown &Levinson’s Face Threatening Acts and Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions,this study is an analysis of Chinese college students’ face needs in EFL class.In this study,the subjects are 116 freshmen,non-English majors.Selecting totally 60 students from them and dividing them into two groups according to their scores of College English Entrance Examination.The collected data from questionnaire are analyzed by statistical software SPSS16.0 version.The major findings from the analysis include the following:1) high-scored students and low-scored students have similar positive face needs;2) Weight of imposition,group tendency and uncertainty avoidance are used to exam students’ negative face needs.According to the data in SPSS16.0,there is a difference between the two groups in terms of the weight of imposition.But the Independent-Samples T test of Sum of Questionnaire indicates that there is no distinct difference in the negative face needs between the two groups.     

A Corpus-based Study on \"However\" in Chinese Learners’ Writing

The use of \"however\" by Chinese learners’ writing is studied through a comparison of its use in CLEC and in BROWN and found that \"however\" is overused in the front of a sentence,underused in the middle of a sentence and misused as a disjunctive conjunction,as is followed by the analysis of three attributable factors,i.e.the writing style,confusion with \"but\" and negative L1 transfer.     

Using Coh-Metrix to Automatically Access Discourse Coherence in EFL Learners’Writing:A Quantitative Analysis

The purpose of the present study was to use Coh-Metrix,a computational tool,to examine the relationship between discourse coherence and writing level,and analyze the coherence of high level writing and low level writing.The study uses 5 Coh-Metrix variables to analyze 40 college students’timed compositions from Chinese Learners English of Corpus(CLEC) and their corresponding readability scores.The study demonstrates that Coh-Metrix variables,number of words,words per sentences,the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level,LSA sentence all,and argument overlap can contribute to text coherence.Findings of the study indicate:there is a relationship between discourse coherence and writing level,but there is no significant difference between high level group and low level group in discourse coherence(p=.409>.05),and writing level can not distinguish discourse coherence in EFL learners’writing.     

A Study of Non-English Majors’Errors in English Writing

Researchers in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) have long held the interest towards the teaching of college English writing. Their research topics, range from how to improve college students’ability to write with English as their second language, to how to correct their wrong expressions in their writing. This article mainly aims at exploring college students’ various writing errors and mistakes,trying to provide some hints for college students and teachers about English writing. Such studies are abundant.     

The Use of LDOCE4 on CD-ROM in EFL Students’ Writing: a Case Study

This case study examines the use of LDOCE4 on CD-ROM in EFL students’writing.Four participants at different proficiency levels were invited to write a composition on a given title.They were then asked to revise their compositions twice,first using the paper dictionary,and secondly using the CD-ROM.Based on a comparison of the two versions,the following conclusions were drawn:1 The CD-ROM is generally more beneficial to EFL students’writing than the paper dictionary.2 Al though the CD-ROM is helpful,it is not a panacea.3 The CD-ROM can provide little help to lower intermediate learners.     

Analysis of English Majors’ Expressiveness of Chinese Culture in English

Currently English has spread around the world so extensively that it has become a link language across many cultures.Since 1980s,China saw a warm discussion of language,culture and cross-cultural communication.An increasing number of researchers and educators began to be aware of the vital importance of culture in EFL teaching and learning and cultural content has been available in classrooms teaching.However,the development of English teaching and cross-cultural communicative competence is target culture-oriented and the ability of expressiveness of home culture in English is almost ignored.Thus,the thesis seeks to collect the students’ perceptions on expressiveness of Chinese culture in English and the culture teaching in EFL in China.     

A Study of Interlanguage Fossilization in College Students’ English writing

English writing is the college students’synthetical application about the knowledge of English.English writing,however,is the weak segment of the college students'English learning all the time.Based on the researches home and abroad,the paper makes an implicational study on interlanguage fossilization in English writing of Chinese college students.Though probing the causes of fossilization in English writing,the paper proposes some measures to reduce the fossilization.In the chapter one,the paper introduces simply the interlanguage fossilization.In the chapter two,the paper analyzes college students English writing and get the causal factors of fossilization:unfavorite learning motivation of students,ineffective feedback to errors,interference of the mother tongue.Then,at the last chapter,the paper put up some measures to overcome and avoid the fossilization in college students'English writing:promoting students'motivation,providing right feedback,avoiding mother tongue interference.     

A Study on the Effects of Online Interaction for the EFL Learners ’Writ-ing Motivation

With the rapid development of information technology, how to utilize the Web in the field of language teaching has become a heated issue in the foreign language teaching reform around the whole world. ...     

Mini-corpus Based Analysis of Errors in Higher Vocational College Students’ Writing

Errors are of significance to language learners in that they are unavoidable and necessary part of learning. We collect120 HVC students’ in-class compositions. Writing errors are identified,marked and annotated in line with the error tagging system used by Gui in CLEC. A mini-corpus is created and tokens are counted and analyzed with SPSS. A factor analysis together with follow-up interview is made to figure out if common factors can account for certain types of errors.     

Chinese Learners’ Pragmatic Failure in Communication with English Native Speakers

Chinese Learners’ pragmatic failure can be divided into pragmalinguistic failure and sociopragmatic failure.Pragmalinguistic failure stems from inappropriate pragmalinguistic transfer and teaching-induced errors.Sociopragmatic failure is mainly caused by cross-cultural differences in the assessment of such socio-cultural variables as size of imposition and social distance,and also by the deviation from rules of speaking.Inappropriate teaching materials are also an important cause of Chinese learners’ sociopragmatic failure.     

A Survey on Students’Oral English Ability in High School

Oral communicative ability is of great importance to measure students’English ability.However,it long exists that English course of high schools focuses on grammar.In economically backward cities where high schools don’t treat speaking as a necessity,there is a prevailing phenomenon of high marks but dumb English.Based on the fact above,the author adopts some methods to conduct an investigation among teachers and students in a high school in Shanxi province.After an elaborate collection of data and a comprehensive conclusion of information related to students,the author points out problems existing in students’oral communication in the Grade Two;by analysis,the author points out some possible reasons for these problems;and lastly,the author puts forward some suggestions to these problems accordingly.     

A Simple Study of the Teacher’s Influence on Students’ Psychology in English Learning

This paper analyzes the teacher’s influence on students’psychologyin English learning from two aspects and emphasizes the importance of English teachers’role in helping students establish healthy psychology in English learning.     

Chinese Culture Can’t be Expressed Exactly in English

Culture is itself a most comprehensive metaphor shown by people--different crowd has specific and characteristic culturewhich is a mixture of history and experience. English as a world language Language plays an important role transmitting, but not exactly,different cultures. Thus, Chinese culture can not be expressed in English besides people who use English as Englishes exactly. This paperwill illustrate the fact through introuducing elements of culture, especially from the aspect of the broadening of Little C (behaviour culture),and analyzing the reason from three aspects according to the broadening of Little C, that is, English can not express Chinese products exactly, English can not express Chinese ideas exactly, and English can not express Chinese behaviours exactly.