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
Recent years,interdisciplinary studies on English writing have become more and more prevalent,which is especially indicated by corpus-based studies,springing up.As the theoretical foundation,the Delexicalization Theor...Recent years,interdisciplinary studies on English writing have become more and more prevalent,which is especially indicated by corpus-based studies,springing up.As the theoretical foundation,the Delexicalization Theory,which is a reasonably common language phenomenon,provides a more extensive perspective for English writing.According to the real linguistic data of EFL learners(The CET4 essays of four different classes),it can be easily found that students tend to use the word“thing”—considered to be one of the frequently-used delexcialized words,to express their opinions by means of the analysis of AntConc.However,the results indicate that Chinese non-English majors are inclined to overuse the word.Meanwhile,there are a large amount of inappropriate use of the word“thing”such as redundancy,substitution,collocation and semantic errors.Moreover,the study attempts to summarize the cause that the overuse may be attributed to improper writing strategies,and the effect of fossilization of interlanguage in order to provide some implications for English teaching promotion.展开更多
The study aims to investigate whether repetition of the same task type affects quality of writing production in terms of complexity, accuracy and fluency(CAF). Data is collected in the form of TOEFL integrated and ind...The study aims to investigate whether repetition of the same task type affects quality of writing production in terms of complexity, accuracy and fluency(CAF). Data is collected in the form of TOEFL integrated and independent essays repetitively written at weekly intervals. Fluency, complexity and accuracy of each essay were gauged using various measures to reflect multidimensionality of these constructs. Data analysis reveals that there is improvement in both integrated and independent writing, especially in terms of linguistic accuracy, which could be attributed to repetition of these two tasks.展开更多
This study compares the relative efficacy of the continuation task and the model-as-feedbackwriting (MAFW) task in EFL writing development. Ninety intermediate-level Chinese EFL learnerswere randomly assigned to a con...This study compares the relative efficacy of the continuation task and the model-as-feedbackwriting (MAFW) task in EFL writing development. Ninety intermediate-level Chinese EFL learnerswere randomly assigned to a continuation group, a MAFW group, and a control group, each with30 learners. A pretest and a posttest were used to gauge L2 writing development. Results showedthat the continuation task outperformed the MAFW task not only in enhancing the overall qualityof L2 writing, but also in promoting the quality of three components of L2 writing, namely, content,organization, and language. The finding has important implications for L2 writing teaching andlearning.展开更多
This exploratory study examines whether genre has an impact on syntactic complexity and holistic rating in EFL writing. Over 300 sample texts produced by intermediate learners were collected from a test and some regul...This exploratory study examines whether genre has an impact on syntactic complexity and holistic rating in EFL writing. Over 300 sample texts produced by intermediate learners were collected from a test and some regular after-class assignments for English writing courses. Each participant completed two writing tasks, one argumentative and the other narrative. Results show that genre type has a significant impact on L2 syntactic complexity. Genre effect is found stronger with timed writing tasks. L2 holistic ratings show correlation with syntactic complexity on the different measure(s) depending on genre type and planning conditions. Regression analyses reveal that for timed writing tasks, clausal density(clauses per sentence) is a reliable predictor for holistic assessment on intermediate EFL learners’ writing quality. It is found to account for 6% of the score variance for timed writing and 10% for timed argumentative writing. Genre is evidenced to be related to EFL writing holistic ratings. Closer examination indicates that while syntactic complexity is predictive of holistic writing scores for argumentative writing, it does not correlate with holistic scores for narrative writing. Other linguistic features rather than syntactic complexity may be accountable. Overall, the study lends support to genre effect in the relationship between syntactic complexity and L2 writing quality holistic rating.展开更多
Since the process writing was raised in the L2 writing in 1970s, the feedback has been an important part of teaching. A range of researchers have investigated the effect of different types of error feedback to find wh...Since the process writing was raised in the L2 writing in 1970s, the feedback has been an important part of teaching. A range of researchers have investigated the effect of different types of error feedback to find whether the feedback can help L2 writers improve the accuracy of their writing. Similar to the previously discussed question, they have also reached rather controversial conclusions. Most often, these studies have categorized corrective feedback as either direct or indirect. To explore the effects of corrective feedback in L2 writing, the paper investigated the types of feedback given to 30 college students of Tianhe College in Guangdong province. The study improved that correction feedback can improve accuracy in student writing.展开更多
This research made comparisons of cohesive ties between the good and poor compositions of sixty senior three students in a senior high school in Shenzhen,Guangdong Province to examine cohesive features in L2 argumenta...This research made comparisons of cohesive ties between the good and poor compositions of sixty senior three students in a senior high school in Shenzhen,Guangdong Province to examine cohesive features in L2 argumentative writing.The findings of the present study reveals that the composition scores were significantly co-varied with the number of conjunction ties and lexical ties,as well as the total number of cohesive ties used.Among the three main categories of cohesive ties,lexical ties(66.7%)used most frequently in the sampled L2 essays.Moreover,cohesive ties with the most frequently used,lexical ties,contribute to the quality of syntactical structure.展开更多
The research literature on teaching writing in a L2 （second language） has inspired L2 writing teachers with various sorts of activities in the last few decades and scholars have highlighted multiple aspects of L2 wr...The research literature on teaching writing in a L2 （second language） has inspired L2 writing teachers with various sorts of activities in the last few decades and scholars have highlighted multiple aspects of L2 writing on which L2 writing teachers should focus. This paper presents a chronological sketch of the main approaches and trends in teaching and researching L2 writing around the world. It summarizes the components of L2 writing addressed in these approaches and enumerates the dimensions of L2 writing stressed in different approaches including language structure, text functions, themes and topics, creative expression, composing processes, content, genre, and context of writing. Referring to the types of knowledge that need to be imparted to L2 writers, the paper exemplifies teaching activities that can enrich L2 writing classes. The theme that emerges from the discussion is that varied pedagogical implications of the research literature will not be confusing for L2 writing teachers, if they broaden their vision of L2 writing to extend a social view to all dimensions of forms, processes, audiences and L2 writers Teaching L2 writing is presented as the teaching of social individuals using socially-mediated processes to produce socially-meaningful texts for socially-aligned audiences展开更多
Vocabulary knowledge is an important component of the writing skill and it has many dimensions, such as size, depth, and productive, in interaction with writing skill. To evaluate this relation and determine which dim...Vocabulary knowledge is an important component of the writing skill and it has many dimensions, such as size, depth, and productive, in interaction with writing skill. To evaluate this relation and determine which dimension is the most effective for second language writing quality, the present study was conducted. Turkish EFL （English as a Foreign Language） learners＇ lexical competence and writing abilities were examined through their vocabulary profiles and academic essays. The results of each vocabulary measure indicated that the participants had a limited vocabulary size, containing words mostly from 2,000 to 3,000 frequency bands and thus, the productive vocabulary knowledge of the participants mostly consisted of lk ＋ 2k words and the use of academic words in their essays was very low. The results of the study revealed that the lexical competence covering the main components of vocabulary knowledge was a good predictor of the students＇ quality of writing performance.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
This article introduces a mixed-methods study examining the psychological effects of Generative Artificial Intelligence(GenAI)tools on the research writing processes of English as a Second Language(L2)graduate student...This article introduces a mixed-methods study examining the psychological effects of Generative Artificial Intelligence(GenAI)tools on the research writing processes of English as a Second Language(L2)graduate students.While previous research has highlighted GenAI’s benefits for language accuracy and efficiency,its influence on procrastination and anxiety remains underexplored.This proposed study will employ a Randomised Controlled Trial(RCT)combined with qualitative phenomenology to investigate how GenAI tools reshape self-regulation strategies and emotional states during academic writing.Focusing on 120 Chinese graduate students,the research will compare three experimental conditions:GenAI use with AI(Artificial Intelligence)detection protocols,GenAI use without detection,and a non-AI control group.Quantitative data from validated procrastination and anxiety scales will be integrated with reflective journals and semi-structured interviews.The study seeks to enhance theoretical frameworks concerning technology-mediated writing anxiety and guide ethical AI integration policies.展开更多
There has been an increasing interest in studying thesis writing genre in the past two decades, however, the study on how social science doctoral students construct their academic identity in 12 thesis writing still r...There has been an increasing interest in studying thesis writing genre in the past two decades, however, the study on how social science doctoral students construct their academic identity in 12 thesis writing still remains underexplored to date. This paper attempts to fill the gap by examining the ways in which a cohort of Chinese social science doctoral students constructed their academic identity in the process of drafting, revising, and shaping the Discussion ＆ Conclusion section of their L2 theses. The study adopted multi-case approaches and in-depth interviews. It found that the process of the students＇ academic identity construction was fluid and dynamic. These students gradually evolved from novice student writers at the initial stage to more skilled academic writers at the later stage. The findings generated from this study offer significant implications for L2 writing pedagogy in China.展开更多
This article reviews and reflects on Yang & Gao's research on beliefs and practices of Chinese university teachers in EFL writing instruction.After a summary of the major arguments, the author offers a detaile...This article reviews and reflects on Yang & Gao's research on beliefs and practices of Chinese university teachers in EFL writing instruction.After a summary of the major arguments, the author offers a detailed and balanced critique on Yang&Gao's research. In the end, the author comes to a conclusion based on her critique and proposes several implications it has on L2 writing instruction.展开更多
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
This paper investigates developmental patterns of metadiscourse use in Chinese students’EAP writing in an English medium university,in comparison with English majors’EFL writing in mainstream state universities and ...This paper investigates developmental patterns of metadiscourse use in Chinese students’EAP writing in an English medium university,in comparison with English majors’EFL writing in mainstream state universities and L1 student writing in UK universities.Taking a longitudinal and cross-contextual perspective,the study explores corpora of L1 and L2 student writing gathered from three sources:EAP essays written by Chinese undergraduate students at an English Medium Instruction(EMI)university;argumentative essays written by English majors in the Written English Corpus of Chinese Learners(WECCL);and academic essays of English L1 students from the British Academic Written English(BAWE)corpus.Hyland’s(2005 a)model of metadiscourse was adopted to identify interactive and interactional devices in each corpus,and results were compared between different levels as well as across the corpora to reveal developmental features.Findings show marked differences in metadiscourse use between Chinese EMI students’EAP essays and English major students’EFL essays in mainstream state universities,whereas a similar pattern of use occurred in EAP essays and English L1 student academic essays.Significant changes were also found between different year levels in two L2 essay corpora.The findings suggest that metadiscourse use in L2 writing had developmental trajectories distinctive to different institutional contexts,with EAP instruction in the EMI institution having mixed effects on Chinese students’awareness and use of metadiscourse in essay writing.展开更多
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Recent years,interdisciplinary studies on English writing have become more and more prevalent,which is especially indicated by corpus-based studies,springing up.As the theoretical foundation,the Delexicalization Theory,which is a reasonably common language phenomenon,provides a more extensive perspective for English writing.According to the real linguistic data of EFL learners(The CET4 essays of four different classes),it can be easily found that students tend to use the word“thing”—considered to be one of the frequently-used delexcialized words,to express their opinions by means of the analysis of AntConc.However,the results indicate that Chinese non-English majors are inclined to overuse the word.Meanwhile,there are a large amount of inappropriate use of the word“thing”such as redundancy,substitution,collocation and semantic errors.Moreover,the study attempts to summarize the cause that the overuse may be attributed to improper writing strategies,and the effect of fossilization of interlanguage in order to provide some implications for English teaching promotion.
文摘The study aims to investigate whether repetition of the same task type affects quality of writing production in terms of complexity, accuracy and fluency(CAF). Data is collected in the form of TOEFL integrated and independent essays repetitively written at weekly intervals. Fluency, complexity and accuracy of each essay were gauged using various measures to reflect multidimensionality of these constructs. Data analysis reveals that there is improvement in both integrated and independent writing, especially in terms of linguistic accuracy, which could be attributed to repetition of these two tasks.
文摘This study compares the relative efficacy of the continuation task and the model-as-feedbackwriting (MAFW) task in EFL writing development. Ninety intermediate-level Chinese EFL learnerswere randomly assigned to a continuation group, a MAFW group, and a control group, each with30 learners. A pretest and a posttest were used to gauge L2 writing development. Results showedthat the continuation task outperformed the MAFW task not only in enhancing the overall qualityof L2 writing, but also in promoting the quality of three components of L2 writing, namely, content,organization, and language. The finding has important implications for L2 writing teaching andlearning.
文摘This exploratory study examines whether genre has an impact on syntactic complexity and holistic rating in EFL writing. Over 300 sample texts produced by intermediate learners were collected from a test and some regular after-class assignments for English writing courses. Each participant completed two writing tasks, one argumentative and the other narrative. Results show that genre type has a significant impact on L2 syntactic complexity. Genre effect is found stronger with timed writing tasks. L2 holistic ratings show correlation with syntactic complexity on the different measure(s) depending on genre type and planning conditions. Regression analyses reveal that for timed writing tasks, clausal density(clauses per sentence) is a reliable predictor for holistic assessment on intermediate EFL learners’ writing quality. It is found to account for 6% of the score variance for timed writing and 10% for timed argumentative writing. Genre is evidenced to be related to EFL writing holistic ratings. Closer examination indicates that while syntactic complexity is predictive of holistic writing scores for argumentative writing, it does not correlate with holistic scores for narrative writing. Other linguistic features rather than syntactic complexity may be accountable. Overall, the study lends support to genre effect in the relationship between syntactic complexity and L2 writing quality holistic rating.
文摘Since the process writing was raised in the L2 writing in 1970s, the feedback has been an important part of teaching. A range of researchers have investigated the effect of different types of error feedback to find whether the feedback can help L2 writers improve the accuracy of their writing. Similar to the previously discussed question, they have also reached rather controversial conclusions. Most often, these studies have categorized corrective feedback as either direct or indirect. To explore the effects of corrective feedback in L2 writing, the paper investigated the types of feedback given to 30 college students of Tianhe College in Guangdong province. The study improved that correction feedback can improve accuracy in student writing.
文摘This research made comparisons of cohesive ties between the good and poor compositions of sixty senior three students in a senior high school in Shenzhen,Guangdong Province to examine cohesive features in L2 argumentative writing.The findings of the present study reveals that the composition scores were significantly co-varied with the number of conjunction ties and lexical ties,as well as the total number of cohesive ties used.Among the three main categories of cohesive ties,lexical ties(66.7%)used most frequently in the sampled L2 essays.Moreover,cohesive ties with the most frequently used,lexical ties,contribute to the quality of syntactical structure.
文摘The research literature on teaching writing in a L2 （second language） has inspired L2 writing teachers with various sorts of activities in the last few decades and scholars have highlighted multiple aspects of L2 writing on which L2 writing teachers should focus. This paper presents a chronological sketch of the main approaches and trends in teaching and researching L2 writing around the world. It summarizes the components of L2 writing addressed in these approaches and enumerates the dimensions of L2 writing stressed in different approaches including language structure, text functions, themes and topics, creative expression, composing processes, content, genre, and context of writing. Referring to the types of knowledge that need to be imparted to L2 writers, the paper exemplifies teaching activities that can enrich L2 writing classes. The theme that emerges from the discussion is that varied pedagogical implications of the research literature will not be confusing for L2 writing teachers, if they broaden their vision of L2 writing to extend a social view to all dimensions of forms, processes, audiences and L2 writers Teaching L2 writing is presented as the teaching of social individuals using socially-mediated processes to produce socially-meaningful texts for socially-aligned audiences
文摘Vocabulary knowledge is an important component of the writing skill and it has many dimensions, such as size, depth, and productive, in interaction with writing skill. To evaluate this relation and determine which dimension is the most effective for second language writing quality, the present study was conducted. Turkish EFL （English as a Foreign Language） learners＇ lexical competence and writing abilities were examined through their vocabulary profiles and academic essays. The results of each vocabulary measure indicated that the participants had a limited vocabulary size, containing words mostly from 2,000 to 3,000 frequency bands and thus, the productive vocabulary knowledge of the participants mostly consisted of lk ＋ 2k words and the use of academic words in their essays was very low. The results of the study revealed that the lexical competence covering the main components of vocabulary knowledge was a good predictor of the students＇ quality of writing performance.
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This article introduces a mixed-methods study examining the psychological effects of Generative Artificial Intelligence(GenAI)tools on the research writing processes of English as a Second Language(L2)graduate students.While previous research has highlighted GenAI’s benefits for language accuracy and efficiency,its influence on procrastination and anxiety remains underexplored.This proposed study will employ a Randomised Controlled Trial(RCT)combined with qualitative phenomenology to investigate how GenAI tools reshape self-regulation strategies and emotional states during academic writing.Focusing on 120 Chinese graduate students,the research will compare three experimental conditions:GenAI use with AI(Artificial Intelligence)detection protocols,GenAI use without detection,and a non-AI control group.Quantitative data from validated procrastination and anxiety scales will be integrated with reflective journals and semi-structured interviews.The study seeks to enhance theoretical frameworks concerning technology-mediated writing anxiety and guide ethical AI integration policies.
基金part of the project entitled "Study of the Development of Chinese Students' Generic Competence",supported by the National Grant for Social Sciences (No: 10BYY088)supported by Wuhan University Teaching Research grant entitled "A Multi-model Construction of Curriculum System for English Speciality" (No: 2011303)
文摘There has been an increasing interest in studying thesis writing genre in the past two decades, however, the study on how social science doctoral students construct their academic identity in 12 thesis writing still remains underexplored to date. This paper attempts to fill the gap by examining the ways in which a cohort of Chinese social science doctoral students constructed their academic identity in the process of drafting, revising, and shaping the Discussion ＆ Conclusion section of their L2 theses. The study adopted multi-case approaches and in-depth interviews. It found that the process of the students＇ academic identity construction was fluid and dynamic. These students gradually evolved from novice student writers at the initial stage to more skilled academic writers at the later stage. The findings generated from this study offer significant implications for L2 writing pedagogy in China.
文摘This article reviews and reflects on Yang & Gao's research on beliefs and practices of Chinese university teachers in EFL writing instruction.After a summary of the major arguments, the author offers a detailed and balanced critique on Yang&Gao's research. In the end, the author comes to a conclusion based on her critique and proposes several implications it has on L2 writing instruction.
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.
基金supported by Research Development Fund of Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University and Jiangsu Ministry of Education Philosophy and Social Sciences Funding Scheme.
文摘This paper investigates developmental patterns of metadiscourse use in Chinese students’EAP writing in an English medium university,in comparison with English majors’EFL writing in mainstream state universities and L1 student writing in UK universities.Taking a longitudinal and cross-contextual perspective,the study explores corpora of L1 and L2 student writing gathered from three sources:EAP essays written by Chinese undergraduate students at an English Medium Instruction(EMI)university;argumentative essays written by English majors in the Written English Corpus of Chinese Learners(WECCL);and academic essays of English L1 students from the British Academic Written English(BAWE)corpus.Hyland’s(2005 a)model of metadiscourse was adopted to identify interactive and interactional devices in each corpus,and results were compared between different levels as well as across the corpora to reveal developmental features.Findings show marked differences in metadiscourse use between Chinese EMI students’EAP essays and English major students’EFL essays in mainstream state universities,whereas a similar pattern of use occurred in EAP essays and English L1 student academic essays.Significant changes were also found between different year levels in two L2 essay corpora.The findings suggest that metadiscourse use in L2 writing had developmental trajectories distinctive to different institutional contexts,with EAP instruction in the EMI institution having mixed effects on Chinese students’awareness and use of metadiscourse in essay writing.
