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.     

Adult EFL Learners’Motivation in Reading

In the enthusiastic trend of English learning, an abundance of work is contributing to practical assistance to adult learn-ers in contrast with the paucity of attention on the learners’psychological ba...     

A Study on the Correlations Between Chinese EFL Learners’ Autonomous Learning and Their Cooperative Learning

Cooperative learning and learner autonomy have become heated topics in English teaching.Many researchers both at home and abroad have carried out the study on this field,and they proved that learner autonomy and cooperative learning are rel evant,cooperative learning can promote English majors’learning autonomy in terms of listening,reading,speaking,however,no obvious findings in vocabulary and writing.This study is conducted to prove the feasibilities and effectiveness of cooperative learning applied to foster first-year non-English majors’learning autonomy from the aspect of vocabulary and structure.The re sults of this study showed that cooperative learning was much more effective than traditional teaching approaches in fostering some positive affective factors.According to this research,cooperative learning can also improve learners’vocabulary and struc ture significantly.     

A Survey of Adverbial Connectors in EFL Learners’ Writing:A Comparative Study

Through a comparative study of the use of ACs (ACs) in EFL learners’ writing at different English writing proficiency, Chinese EFL learners’ use of ACs are analyzed with the hope to provide valuabe suggestions in Enligh writing teaching and learning.     

Maintaining Learners’Motivation

Foreign language learning is a complex process and its success is determined by a variety of factors. The prime one of them is motivation ,which, as everyone knows, could be controlled by external forc...     

Polishing the EFL Learners’ Writing Performance

This paper intends to provide tips on improving EFL learners’ writing performance.It probes this question first from the different patterns of English writing and Chinese writing.Second,the use of varied sentences structures and wording can make the writing more impressive.Third,it suggests the application of connectives.Last,be aware of the employment of the idioms as well as figure of speech.The primary feature of this paper is that the methods mentioned here are pragmatic supported with specific examples respectively.     

An Empirical Study on the Productive Vocabulary of Advanced Chinese EFL Learners——Based on A Contras tive Analysis of model Compositions of Advanced Chinese EFL Learners and American university Students

By contrasting the model compositions by advanced Chinese EFL learners and American university students in the cor pus approach,the present study analyzes the use of productive vocabulary by Chinese EFL learners both quantitatively and qualita tively.It is found that except the first 1000 most frequently used words,there is no statistically significant difference between the frequency distribution of the productive vocabulary used by both types of English learners.But in terms of the usages of the Eng lish words,the Chinese EFL learners exhibit inadequacy in understanding and employing them,especially with regard to semantic prosody and collocation.These findings are significant for the teaching of vocabulary in China.     

Effects of Different Reading Purposes on L2 Learners’IVA

According to the former studies, there are many factors having effects on second language (L2) learners’incidental vo?cabulary acquisition (IVA). This paper is aimed to reveal how reading a text with d...     

Effects of Different Reading Purposes on L2 Learners’ IVA

According to the former studies, there are many factors having effects on second language(L2) learners’ incidental vocabulary acquisition(IVA). This paper is aimed to reveal how reading a text with different purposes might affect IVA of L2 learners. The results of this study show that there is a closed relationship between the efficiency of IVA and reading purposes. Besides,it also has something to do with L2 learners’ reading abilities.     

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 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 historical reconsideration of the work of the National Society for the Study of Education’s Committee on Curriculum-Making

Historical representations of the National Society for the Study of Education’s Committee on Curriculum-Making typically recount that the purpose of the committee was to assemble representatives from competing curriculum camps to achieve consensus on curriculum principles, depict the committee’s work as important, cast doubt on the consensus the committee achieved, overlook the principles proposed by the committee and ignore its call for deliberation. A historical reconstruction of the committee’s work in the USA during the 1920s reveals that the purpose of the committee changed from reviewing research to prescribing techniques and finally to proposing general curriculum principles, with the aim of fostering deliberation among curriculum workers. A review of the US curriculum literature reveals that, after some initial attention, the Twenty-Sixth Yearbook fell into relative obscurity, but was rediscovered in the 1960s. A new analysis of the committee members’ supplementary statements argues that the committee indeed achieved consensus on foundational curriculum principles. As a historical document, the yearbook represents the coalescence of curriculum development as a professional field in the USA during in the 1920s. As a repository of professional knowledge, the General Statement remains pertinent to curriculum reform in the twenty-first century.     

Effects of a Value-Reappraisal Intervention on Statistics Students’ Motivation and Performance

The authors investigated the effects of an exploratory value-reappraisal intervention on students’ motivation and performance in an undergraduate introductory statistics course. They sampled 82 students from 2 instructors’ sections during both the fall and spring semesters. Students were randomly assigned within each section to either the Value-Reappraisal (VR) or Control condition (C). VR presented messages about the importance of statistics and guided students in exploring potential values of learning statistics. Results showed positive effects of VR on task value, endogenous instrumentality, and a choice-behavior measure of interest. The authors found VR to affect exam performance, but only for students who had a particular instructor. This research helps broaden literature on self-regulation and expectancy-value models of motivation by focusing on the regulation of value perceptions.     

Does the Visual Appeal of Instructional Media Affect Learners’ Motivation Toward Learning?

While authors like Mayer (2009) suggest that designers should avoid using visuals for the purpose of attracting learners’ interests, some scholars suggest that visuals could influence learners’ emotions. In this study the author investigated whether the perception of the visual appeal of instructional handouts affects learners’ self-reported motivation to learn from the handouts. Two handouts were prepared for this study: a minimalist handout following Mayer’s (2009) Coherence Principle and an appealing handout complying with everyday visual trends. Participants were instructed to look at the handouts in different orders according to groups and were asked about their impressions of the handouts. The appealing handout was perceived as motivating when it was seen after the minimalist handout. However, the group that saw the minimalist handout first did not perceive the appealing handout as motivating. The result implies that not only the design but also the learning context influences learners’ self-reported motivation to engage with the handout.     

Learner–Instructor Telephone Interaction: Effects on Satisfaction and Achievement of Online Students

The telephone has a long history as a distance learning technology. This study investigated its impact on the satisfaction and achievement of online students. To measure satisfaction, the expectancy disconfirmation paradigm was used. Online students completed an instrument based on this paradigm at the beginning and end of the semester. A randomly selected treatment group received one telephone call from their instructor during the first two weeks of the semester. Achievement was measured by course grade. The study found that the telephone call had no significant effect on the level of satisfaction reported and that grades of the treatment group were slightly lower than those of the control group. Despite these findings, the majority of students (65%) rated their online experience as having exceeded their expectations.     

A Study on the Translator’s Subjectivity of Wolf Totem

The translator, as the main body of a translation, has been in an invisible and ignored state for a long time. The position of the translator has been improved and the role of the translator has begun ...     

A Study on the Translator’s Subjectivity of Wolf Totem

The translator, as the main body of a translation, has been in an invisible and ignored state for a long time. The position of the translator has been improved and the role of the translator has begun to be recognized since the field of translation studies multifaceted and deepened. In order to analyze the translator’s subjectivity better, the thesis states comprehensive definitions of the translator’s subjectivity and uses Wolf Totem as a case study, whose author is Jiang Rong and the translator is Howard Goldblatt, to show that how the translator Howard Goldblatt utilizes his subjectivity in the translation process.     

Fostering Learner Autonomy by Strengthening Learners’ Motivation

This paper aims to discus some practical ways to develop the learners’autonomous English learning abilities.After analyzed the motivation problems,the author strengthened learners’motivation through classroom teaching successfully by building good social relations,promoting negotiation,promoting interaction in the classroom and setting up adequate evaluation systems,etc.The author finds that using the content of regular college classroom teaching as a meaningful context for the development of responsibility can enhance the learning effect.The teacher’s guiding role in autonomous learning should never be ignored.Developing autonomous English learning in vocational colleges in China is our long-term pedagogical goal.     

Understanding the Influence of Learners’ Forethought on Their Use of Science Study Strategies in Postsecondary Science Learning

Understanding self-regulation in science learning is important for theorists and practitioners alike. However, very little has been done to explore and understand students’ self-regulatory processes in postsecondary science courses. In this study, the influence of science efficacy, learning value, and goal orientation on the perceived use of science study strategies was explored using structural equation modeling. In addition, the study served to validate the first two stages of Zimmerman's cyclical model of self-regulation and to address the common methodological weakness in self-regulation research in which data are all collected at one point after the learning cycle is complete. Thus, data were collected across the learning cycle rather than asking students to reflect upon each construct after the learning cycle was complete. The findings supported the hypothesized model in which it was predicted that self-efficacy would significantly and positively influence students’ perceived science strategy use, and the influence of students’ valuation of science learning on science study strategies would be mediated by their learning goal orientation. The findings of the study are discussed and implications for undergraduate science instructors are proposed.