Volume 40, Issue 3

The study investigated the effects of an intervention program on self-regulated learning designed for second language learners. One hundred and twenty participants who were sophomore English majors at a university in China were randomly assigned to either the treatment or the control group. The intervention was composed of six weekly two-hour training sessions that focus on five main variables of self-regulatory processes: goal setting, self-efficacy, time and study environment management, language learning strategies, and attribution. The evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervention included multiple outcome variables, which were grouped into three categories: students’ motivational beliefs, students’ strategy use, and students’ academic performance. The results of the immediate training effects on goal setting, self-efficacy, attribution, time and study environment management, memory strategy, compensation strategy, metacognitive strategy and second language proficiency confirmed that academic self-regulation is a trainable student characteristic and self-regulation training can be used effectively in a second language classroom setting. The feature of the current study design allows for systematically examining and evaluating both motivational variables and learning strategies in the context of second language learning.

The present study, using quantitative and qualitative analyses, aimed at delineating the interrelationship between the knowledge of metacognition and the regulation of metacognition, along with the role of learners’ regulatory ability in mediating the effects of task-induced involvement load on word learning. A total of 60 university EFL students were recruited to the study. They first completed a checklist on metacognition and were then assigned to complete three tasks with varying degrees of involvement load followed by a vocabulary test. Of them, 12 students also participated in an interview. The results showed that the two main components of metacognition, i.e., the knowledge and regulation of metacognition, are closely and significantly correlated. The learners, assigned to four different ability groups (LK/LR, LK/HR, HK/LR, HK/HR), were found to benefit most by engaging in a task with the highest involvement load. Despite the benefits, their regulatory ability mediated the effects of task-induced involvement load on word learning, which was corroborated by the interview results. The relevant implications for teaching and learning words through tasks are further discussed.

This study investigated the relationship between situation-bound utterances (SBUs thereafter) and formulaic competence, focusing on the acquisition of three subcategories of SBUs among early intermediate and early advanced Chinese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). A group of native English speakers also participated in this study to provide baseline data. One-way ANOVA analysis and post hoc tests confirmed that linguistic competence usually preceded formulaic competence for EFL learners. The findings also showed no statistically significant difference existing between the three groups of participants in the use of plain SBUs, and this could be attributed to the low degree of cultural-embeddedness and high semantic transparency of plain SBUs. It was further argued that a threshold has to be reached for EFL learners to go through a movement from rules to wholes.

This study aims to investigate the effect of the continuation task (CT) on the acquisition of the Chinese spatial phrase structure (SPS) by learners of various L1 backgrounds learning Chinese as a second language (CSL). Two groups of participants were formed: a continuation group and a reading comprehension group. The former was required to continue in Chinese a text with its ending removed, while the latter needed to complete the Q&A questions after reading the same text. The effect of the tasks was measured by examining the CSL learners’ correct use of the Chinese SPS in three aspects — the circum-construction, the use of prepositions and the use of the locative. The study found that the continuation group made significant improvement from the pretest to the posttests while the reading comprehension group did not. Moreover, the continuation group outperformed the reading comprehension group significantly in the posttests, though there was no significant difference between them in the pretest. The results showed that CT can facilitate CSL learners’ acquisition of the Chinese SPS, with a better effect than the reading comprehension task.

This review study was designed to map out the research trends through an intensive text analysis of 1,366 research articles (RAs) of applied linguistics during the past 40 years (from 1976 to 2015). RAs were coded and analyzed by four analysts to identify their content of research, research methods, and statistical procedures. It was found that there has been an increase in the number and the average length of articles. The average length has been on the rise from 8.09 pages in 1976-1985 to 14.38 during 2006-2015. The extensive review of the RAs also revealed a broad range of themes that belonged to 34 research domains. SLA, Technology & Language Learning, Language Teaching Methodology, Language Testing, and Psycholinguistics were the most widely researched areas. The qualitative method with 33.97% was the dominant research method in the journals. Regarding the statistical techniques, it was illustrated that descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, ANOVA, and t-test were the most commonly used procedures in the applied linguistic RAs.

The English language is seen by the Chinese as a tool of significant pragmatic value, both by the individual and the state. Discourse on English language education within China has, both historically and at present, pitted the pragmatic value of English against concerns of cultural and linguistic erosion and imposition. Concerns over the corrupting impact the English language may have on the Chinese language, and further on Chinese culture, uneasily coexist with an acceptance of the English language’s role as the key to modernization and economic development. Voices of past and present, have at their core a desire for the protection of a reified cultural identity or essence. However, cultural and linguistic influence has not merely been imposed upon China from external forces, but has been actively drawn in by domestic forces. Such domestic forces range from foreign language education policies that meet the demands of a globalized market-driven economy, to a market demand for English language media such as TV programs, movies and literature. Ultimately, the presence and significance of these domestic forces undermines a view of the English language as a vehicle of cultural imperialism in China.