Volume 37, Issue 1

This explorative study investigates 1) whether and how quantitative measures of writing can be applied in finding out about scoring raters’ specific tendency in their scoring of EFL writing; 2) how the knowledge of raters’ tendency and scoring results would help verify the best way of combining raters’ scores; and 3) how the prediction of the writing scores of EFL writing obtained by quantitative writing performance measures would match the real scores given by raters. Based on a tentative CAF framework of writing measures, raters’ performance or tendency in their scoring was observed and certain patterns of similarities as well as differences were found among the raters. The results of multiple linear regressions indicate that all raters give prior attention to the aspect of accuracy in their scoring. Differences among raters are also obvious. When it comes to the combination of different raters’ scores, the study also finds that weighted average is the best of the three ways of combining scores for this group of raters because it has yielded the best predicting scores than the “pure average”. It is even slightly better than the results obtained by facet analysis in terms of some important indices such as R square and Durbin-Watson value. The matching of the predicted scores with the real scores is well over 50 percent. The results of the study are further discussed in relation to the application of wpm and the possible improvement of wpm framework. The methodological, theoretical and practical implications of the study have also been touched upon in the relevant part of the article.

The effects of a task-based learning (TBL) approach on learner progress in L2 public speaking are investigated through questionnaires, a case study, and student evaluations. The 34 completed questionnaires showed that all of the students made generic preparations for their flrst individual speech, but relevant and unique improvements for the second one. Speeches given in English by two Chinese undergraduate students in the same Public Speaking course were analyzed in detail to identify phonological improvements in accuracy and fluency. The paper concludes that task-based instruction supports learner-initiated learning opportunities outside the classroom, thus encouraging greater learner improvements.

This paper reports a study which investigated the meanings a group of experienced English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers at a Chinese university gave to their classroom practices. It uncovers for each teacher a conceptual framework for practice, which comprises teaching principles and strategic intentions. It reveals that teachers’ frameworks for practice are an interwoven system of their most strongly held beliefs in language teaching and their perceptions of their teaching contexts, and that teachers’ own learning and teaching experiences are important influences on their conceptualisations of classroom work. Findings of this research have implications for language teacher education and development.

This paper presents a study that explored the effects of cooperative learning on Chinese students’ interactional strategy use in the EFL classroom. A quasi-experimental research design was adopted. The experimental class (EC) participated in cooperative learning for 30 minutes in each 90-minute session in an integrated skills course while the control class (CC) had the same course following a teacher-fronted format. Interactional data of EC and CC were collected for comparison from the pre- and post-tasks conducted at the beginning and the end of the experiment respectively. The results show that EC appeared to have made more gains in interactional strategy use than CC after the experiment. Although CC made more progress in elaboration than EC. EC produced more uptakes, used much less Chinese and made fewer message abandonments, suggesting better oral fluency in their interaction as a result of cooperative learning.

This study investigated the metaphor transfer among 75 Chinese EFL students from Sichuan International Studies University and focused on L1’s role in the acquisition of L2 metaphor. The study proposes a new cross-language matching model between metaphorical concepts and their linguistic forms. Using a multiple choice metaphor test administered to a group of graduate English majors and a group of undergraduate non-English majors, the study found that the cross-language matching model between the conceptual basis and its linguistic form is one of the main factors influencing L2 metaphor comprehension, and that such influences will dwindle with the accretion of language proficiency. Although there is still a long way to go before the establishment of a L2 metaphorically conceptual system, the study takes several steps toward a better understanding of metaphor transfer in language acquisition.

This study investigates the effects of exposure frequency and contextual richness in reading on the acquisition of different aspects of vocabulary knowledge. An intact class of 35 secondyear English majors read an adapted story, with the target pseudo words highlighted, and then took ten carefully sequenced vocabulary tests. The test scores were subjected to multiple regression analyses. Follow-up semi-structured interviews were also conducted. The findings show that (a) frequency and contextual richness were closely related to vocabulary knowledge of spelling, grammar and syntax, with frequency playing a more influential role than contextual richness; (b) contextual richness contributed exclusively to gains in meaning and paradigmatic association, while frequency did not exert much influence in this regard; (c) knowledge of spelling and grammar was probably implicitly acquired, whereas word meaning gains required both explicit attention and conscious processing.

This study was designed to explore the issue of request strategies in Chinese settings by establishing corpora of video clips of contemporary Chinese teledramas. The present study chose short sequences of video clips from the Chinese teledramas and designed nine situations to establish corpora by taking the two social variables of power and distance as reference points. The study shows that the most used request strategies are the mood derivable, the query preparatory and the hedged performatives. Chinese people have a tendency towards more naturalness and straightforwardness in real life and employ request strategies based more on social distance than social power.