The Usage of Modal Verbs and Cultural Values—A Brief Critical Review on Eli Hinkel’s"The Use of Modal Verbs as a Reflection of Cultural Values"

The article gives a brief review on Hinkel’s study "The Use of Modal Verbs as a Reflection of Cultural Values",aiming at improving language teacher’s awareness that culture can influence language learners’ use of modals.At the same time,by pointing out the weakness of Hinkel’s study,the author suggests that the mere acquisition of linguistic competence is insufficient and teachers should integrate current research findings into their transmission of knowledge to learners.     

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.     

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 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 Case Study of Students’ Motivation in College Algebra Courses

This paper examines data from a larger study that focused upon students’ experiences and motivations in a college algebra course. The study revealed that students failed this course because of various factors and continued to view this course as a “gatekeeper” class. Through a stepwise multiple regression, the analysis of the ARCS instrument showed that Attention, Relevance, and Confidence were strong predictors of Satisfaction in the course.     

A Study of Code-Switching in Students’ Talk in College English Class

Code-switching between English and Chinese usually occurs in students’ talk when they are involved in taking communicative language activities in college English class. This paper studies the situations in which students are likely to use codeswitching and analyzes it from the perspective of the mental world in Verscheren’s Adaptation Theory. It shows that inadequate mastery of English language, cultural differences and the improper adjustment to context may lead to students’ using of codeswitching. It also shows that the use of code-switching in students’ talk adapts to students’ cognitive elements and emotive elements as well.     

A Study of the Problems in College Students’ Oral English Practice

In recent years,as we all know that English is spreading and using widely in china.It has developed from monotonous language and knowledge to multiple and compositive language and knowledge.For example,the level four and the level eight test of English major and the level four and level six text of non-English major is also reforming.They usually major in reading before,but with the time going on,they need all the students to apply the ability of listening,reading,writing and speaking all in one.Spoken language is the most unsubstantial link all of these days.Of cause,it’s reflected in English teaching,it makes spoken language an unsubstantial link in College English Teaching.     

A Study of Code-Switching in Students’Talk in College English Class

Code-switching between English and Chinese usually occurs in students’talk when they are involved in taking com?municative language activities in college English class. This paper studies the situation...     

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.     

A Study of Tense Errors in Chinese College English-Major Students＇ Writings Based on Corpus

对《中国学习者英语语料库》中的ST5和ST6两个子语库中的所有时态错误按16种时态分类进行分析,结果表明一般过去时、一般现在时和现在完成时是最容易出错的时态。其中尤以一般过去时错误为最多。说明一般过去时是中国英语专业学习者最难掌握的时态。进一步分析发现,中国英语专业学生的一般过去时错误主要集中在时态选择型错误上,主要表现在将一般过去时误用为一般现在时和现在完成时。这主要是由于学生呆板地依据时间状语,未能很好地区分时态的语义特征等原因造成的。此外,动词凸显度和时间状语两种语内因素会显著影响一般过去时的使用。     

On the Development of Chinese College Students’English Listening Autonomy

The article discusses issues related to listening autonomy including the definition of listening and autonomy.The foster of listening involve the collaborated effort of the listening teacher and student.Meanwhile three specific ways to improve listen ing autonomy are presented-keeping a listening diary,extensive listening and forming a listening online community.     

First-Year Students’ Time Use in College: A Latent Profile Analysis

Students’ time expenditures influence their learning and development. This study used latent profile analysis to identify a taxonomy of how first-year students spend their time using a large multi-institution sample. We identified four time usage patterns by first-year students titled Balanced, Involved, Partiers, and Parents. Sex, expected major field, on-campus residency, age, Greek-life membership, and standardized test scores were predictive of students’ time use patterns. Holding a range of student and institutional factors constant, members of the involved group, on average, reported higher levels of engagement than the Balanced group, while Partiers reported lower levels of engagement. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

Influence of Personality on SLA—A Qualitative Case Study of ESL Chinese Students

This study aims to examine the influence of personality on second language learning.The whole study was based on the researcher’s regular interviews with two ESL Chinese students and the observation of their performance during their first semester.Additional data was collected via a simplified Myers Briggs Type Indicator(MBTI)and interviews with their teachers and a native speaker of English.Overall English proficiency was assessed using two Institutional TOEFL tests and their current GPA during their ESL studies.A positive relationship was found between extraversion and spoken English while a slight but passive correlation emerged between extraversion and overall English achievement.     

Teaching of Listening Comprehension to Chinese College Students

1.ContextEnglish is now the most popular learnedforeign language in China.But generally speaking,English teaching in all levels of Chinese schoolsis still very test centered.The real ability oflanguage usage or the communicative ability inlanguage studies is comparatively neglected.Thatleads to a great dissatisfaction due to the obviousdeficiency of Chinese students’language ability.I have taught listening comprehension to firstyear college students in Nanchang University forseveral years.…     

College Students’Quest for Lexical Study and Application

What every brick is for grande building,vocabulary is for the foundation laid for the acquisition of one language.It follows that authentic expressions are justified by the mastery of its application in a specific context.Therefore,it is crucial to delve into the process of vocabulary acquisition,that is,the effect of students’input and output.Words’meanings varied in distinct contexts.Starting from the above two aspects,this paper illustrates the understanding of learning words through examples,so as to optimize the word learning method to achieve twice the result with half the effort.     

Assessing and Predicting College Students’ Use of Strategies for the Self-Regulation of Motivation

College students (N = 215) completed a self-report instrument designed to assess different regulation of motivation strategies as well as aspects of their motivational beliefs, use of cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies, and procrastination. The study serves to extend the research on the self-regulation of motivation through three related findings. One, results indicate that the instrument evaluated in the study provides a reliable and valid method for assessing six motivational regulation strategies in a college population. Two, analyses revealed differences in the extent that students reported using the regulation of motivation strategies, while also showing them to be related to other aspects of self-regulated learning in a theoretically consistent way. Last, findings from a series of multiple regressions indicate that students’ engagement in motivational regulation is a function of their existing motivational beliefs and attitudes.     

Do College Students Use Online Self-Help? A Survey of Intentions and Use of Mental Health Resources

Online self-help may help increase the reach of mental health services for college students, but little research has examined students’ actual interest/use of these resources. An online survey of 389 college students examined intentions and use of online mental health resources as compared with other support options. Findings indicated the highest intentions/use of informal supports (e.g., parents, friends) for mental health problems and lowest intentions/use for online self-help. However, a subset of students showed a preference for online self-help over other forms of support. Participants were also more likely to request online self-help resources (21%) than in-person therapy resources (9%) when offered these options. Reported barriers were also identified for using mobile applications (apps) specifically (e.g., stigma, credibility, privacy). Overall, results suggest mixed findings and relatively low interest for use of online self-help among college students, while highlighting potential barriers that might be addressed to increase engagement.     

A Re-evaluation of Dee in “Everyday Use”

Dee,in"Everyday Use",is portrayed as a negative character.Nevertheless,some critics suggest to re-interpret her for some reasonable causes.By using close-reading,this article try to re-evaluate Dee so to evalue Alice Walker’s valuable devotion in character depiction.     

A Pilot Study on Chinese Students’Intercultural Adaption in the UK

This paper conducted a pilot study by interviewing five Chinese students who study at a British university to see how they have adapted to British culture.This paper mainly found that the’curve’theory couldn’t fully reflect students’intercultural adaptation,students’failure in becoming intercultural and the language pressure they suffer.At the end of the study,some possible measurements limitations are discussed.