This preliminary study investigates the relationship between lexical richness and communicative effectiveness in placement essays for graduate students whose first language (L1) is Chinese. Lexical richness is measure...This preliminary study investigates the relationship between lexical richness and communicative effectiveness in placement essays for graduate students whose first language (L1) is Chinese. Lexical richness is measured with Nation's web-based vocabulary profiler (Cobb, undated) software, and communicative effectiveness is scored by multiple raters. The structure of the study, lexical data compile review, results analysis, and teaching implications will be discussed. The study indicates that lexical richness needs to be taken into account in scoring the quality of writing. However, further investigation and analysis still need to be developed and discussed on the ongoing study.展开更多
Research in L2 writing assessment has overwhelmingly focused on helping students enhance their writing quality and global development in language proficiency by various means and approaches of assessment.However,studi...Research in L2 writing assessment has overwhelmingly focused on helping students enhance their writing quality and global development in language proficiency by various means and approaches of assessment.However,studies of the learning on the part of EFL writing teachers,especially when engaging in collaborative assessment with students,are few and far between.This qualitative case study therefore fills this void of foregoing research by examining the learning and development of a Chinese EFL writing teacher who employed teacher-student collaborative assessment(TSCA)(Wen,2016)in an L2 academic writing course.Drawing upon multiple types of data,three themes emerged with regard to the learning of the L2 writing teacher:1)becoming more assessment literate and capable of providing constructive feedback;2)gaining more efficacy in instructional tactics,student engagement and classroom management;and 3)developing a better understanding of students’evaluation focus as well as their needs and expertise in writing.This study offers a robust picture of how TSCA can foster multidimensional teacher learning-cognitively,affectively,and relationally-affirming its value not only as an assessment tool but as a transformative pedagogical practice.展开更多
Academic literacy is the fundamental quality that scholars should possess in order to get socialized in their disciplinary communities, of which academic writing is one of the most important aspects. This article atte...Academic literacy is the fundamental quality that scholars should possess in order to get socialized in their disciplinary communities, of which academic writing is one of the most important aspects. This article attempts to summarize some common features of academic writing and the skills and background knowledge that are essential for successful writing. The next part focuses on the possible challenges that academic writing may pose on Chinese overseas students as they try to meet the requirements of the Western discourse communities. In the last part, it provides some recommendations to those who intend to study abroad and concludes that for both native and non-native speakers the learning of academic writing is a lifelong process of endless confliction and negotiation.展开更多
The purpose of this study is to examine the use of reporting verbs(RVs)in China-based and Western SSCI indexed English journal articles.Writing samples(N=168)are compared in terms of the frequencies of RVs,selection o...The purpose of this study is to examine the use of reporting verbs(RVs)in China-based and Western SSCI indexed English journal articles.Writing samples(N=168)are compared in terms of the frequencies of RVs,selection of high-frequency RVs and the evaluative orientations of RVs.The results suggest that whereas both English academic articles published in China and English academic articles published in English-speaking countries use similar varieties of RVs.Using the resources of appraisal theory,we found that English academic articles published in Chinas use fewer discourse RVs;they tend to use more neutral RVs,providing no overt intersubjective stance on the cited evidence,whereas English academic articles published in English-speaking countries favor more positive RVs to endorse the evidence during the argument.In particular,English academic articles published in China rarely employ negative and critical RVs.Academic writers’preferences of RVs are not only due to their language proficiency,but also due to their discursive tradition and underlying cultural values.They also have to do with the journals’coverage of topics and attitude toward academic debates and original thinking.The comparative findings have implications for English academic articles published in China,especially those based in non-English-speaking countries,when they try to use RVs to develop authorial stance in English:that is,to distinguish the semantic stance of RVs and cultivate cross-language and-culture awareness.展开更多
The rhetorical structure of abstracts has been a widely discussed topic, as it can greatly enhance the abstract writing skills of second-language writers. This study aims to provide guidance on the syntactic features ...The rhetorical structure of abstracts has been a widely discussed topic, as it can greatly enhance the abstract writing skills of second-language writers. This study aims to provide guidance on the syntactic features that L2 learners can employ, as well as suggest which features they should focus on in English academic writing. To achieve this, all samples were analyzed for rhetorical moves using Hyland’s five-rhetorical move model. Additionally, all sentences were evaluated for syntactic complexity, considering measures such as global, clausal and phrasal complexity. The findings reveal that expert writers exhibit a more balanced use of syntactic complexity across moves, effectively fulfilling the rhetorical objectives of abstracts. On the other hand, MA students tend to rely excessively on embedded structures and dependent clauses in an attempt to increase complexity. The implications of these findings for academic writing research, pedagogy, and assessment are thoroughly discussed.展开更多
文摘This preliminary study investigates the relationship between lexical richness and communicative effectiveness in placement essays for graduate students whose first language (L1) is Chinese. Lexical richness is measured with Nation's web-based vocabulary profiler (Cobb, undated) software, and communicative effectiveness is scored by multiple raters. The structure of the study, lexical data compile review, results analysis, and teaching implications will be discussed. The study indicates that lexical richness needs to be taken into account in scoring the quality of writing. However, further investigation and analysis still need to be developed and discussed on the ongoing study.
文摘Research in L2 writing assessment has overwhelmingly focused on helping students enhance their writing quality and global development in language proficiency by various means and approaches of assessment.However,studies of the learning on the part of EFL writing teachers,especially when engaging in collaborative assessment with students,are few and far between.This qualitative case study therefore fills this void of foregoing research by examining the learning and development of a Chinese EFL writing teacher who employed teacher-student collaborative assessment(TSCA)(Wen,2016)in an L2 academic writing course.Drawing upon multiple types of data,three themes emerged with regard to the learning of the L2 writing teacher:1)becoming more assessment literate and capable of providing constructive feedback;2)gaining more efficacy in instructional tactics,student engagement and classroom management;and 3)developing a better understanding of students’evaluation focus as well as their needs and expertise in writing.This study offers a robust picture of how TSCA can foster multidimensional teacher learning-cognitively,affectively,and relationally-affirming its value not only as an assessment tool but as a transformative pedagogical practice.
文摘Academic literacy is the fundamental quality that scholars should possess in order to get socialized in their disciplinary communities, of which academic writing is one of the most important aspects. This article attempts to summarize some common features of academic writing and the skills and background knowledge that are essential for successful writing. The next part focuses on the possible challenges that academic writing may pose on Chinese overseas students as they try to meet the requirements of the Western discourse communities. In the last part, it provides some recommendations to those who intend to study abroad and concludes that for both native and non-native speakers the learning of academic writing is a lifelong process of endless confliction and negotiation.
文摘The purpose of this study is to examine the use of reporting verbs(RVs)in China-based and Western SSCI indexed English journal articles.Writing samples(N=168)are compared in terms of the frequencies of RVs,selection of high-frequency RVs and the evaluative orientations of RVs.The results suggest that whereas both English academic articles published in China and English academic articles published in English-speaking countries use similar varieties of RVs.Using the resources of appraisal theory,we found that English academic articles published in Chinas use fewer discourse RVs;they tend to use more neutral RVs,providing no overt intersubjective stance on the cited evidence,whereas English academic articles published in English-speaking countries favor more positive RVs to endorse the evidence during the argument.In particular,English academic articles published in China rarely employ negative and critical RVs.Academic writers’preferences of RVs are not only due to their language proficiency,but also due to their discursive tradition and underlying cultural values.They also have to do with the journals’coverage of topics and attitude toward academic debates and original thinking.The comparative findings have implications for English academic articles published in China,especially those based in non-English-speaking countries,when they try to use RVs to develop authorial stance in English:that is,to distinguish the semantic stance of RVs and cultivate cross-language and-culture awareness.
文摘The rhetorical structure of abstracts has been a widely discussed topic, as it can greatly enhance the abstract writing skills of second-language writers. This study aims to provide guidance on the syntactic features that L2 learners can employ, as well as suggest which features they should focus on in English academic writing. To achieve this, all samples were analyzed for rhetorical moves using Hyland’s five-rhetorical move model. Additionally, all sentences were evaluated for syntactic complexity, considering measures such as global, clausal and phrasal complexity. The findings reveal that expert writers exhibit a more balanced use of syntactic complexity across moves, effectively fulfilling the rhetorical objectives of abstracts. On the other hand, MA students tend to rely excessively on embedded structures and dependent clauses in an attempt to increase complexity. The implications of these findings for academic writing research, pedagogy, and assessment are thoroughly discussed.
