Volume 45, Issue 4

This paper compares the effectiveness of one-semester-long instruction of teacher-student collaborative assessment (TSCA) and trained peer review assessment (TPRA). Dependent variables include occurrence of structural elements of the simplified Toulmin model, and improvement of argumentation substance which refers to the quality of reasoning reflected in Toulmin structural elements. Eighty-one sophomore English majors from TSCA group (n=41) and TPRA group (n= 40) were asked to construct two argumentative essays at both the beginning and the end of the semester. The results reveal that the TSCA group produced significantly more counterargument claims and rebuttal data. Additionally, the TSCA group significantly outperformed TPRA group in constructing stronger counterargument claim, rebuttal claim and rebuttal data.

To investigate the impact of dynamic assessment (DA) on the development of speaking skills, a case study was conducted, recruiting a non-English major undergraduate. DA was constructed following the design combining sandwich and cake format with an interactionist approach. To collect data, a profile was designed in accordance with the China’s Standards of English Language Ability (CSE) to record the learner’s changes. A semi-structured interview was conducted to reveal his perspectives on DA. The generated profile with specific mediator-learner’s moves revealed the learner’s microgenetic development in both organizational knowledge and oral expression strategy ability. The thematic analysis of the interview demonstrated the learner’s positive experience with DA, while also unveiling the weak points of DA. Finally, the operational framework for applying interactionist DA in the oral classroom was discussed, and the complementary relationship between DA and traditional teaching and testing practices was highlighted.

In this review of the literature regarding English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teacher development, we focus on empirical studies of pedagogical initiatives, research potential, and the cognitive status of practicing EAP instructors. A selection of 107 articles published in the Journal of English for Academic Purposes and English for Specific Purposes between the years 2002 and 2021 was retrieved for our categorized review. Our investigation affirms that research by and about EAP instructors remains an underdeveloped area in the field. We also attempt to point out future directions for teacher-led research with a conceptual understanding of EAP as a research-informed practice as well as practice-motivated research.

Temporal adverbial clause is an important language structure and exhibits different features in English and Chinese, which brings about difficulties for Chinese EFL learners. Based on the theory of Dependency Grammar, the study attempts to investigate the ordering distribution of temporal adverbial clauses by Chinese EFL learners at the beginning, intermediate and advanced levels. The results show that: 1) Chinese EFL learners at different proficiencies tend to precede temporal adverbial clause to main clause. With the increase of proficiency, the postposition of temporal adverbial clauses by learners increases and is approaching to the ordering preference of target language. 2) The ordering distribution of subordinators for temporal adverbial clauses by Chinese EFL learners is consistent with native English, showing a tendency of 100% preposition, which ascribes to the high frequency and salience of subordinators in English. 3) MDD is one of the significant motivations that cause the preference of prepositional temporal adverbial clauses by Chinese EFL learners. As a kind of natural language, interlanguage has a unique cognitive mechanism which distinguishes from both native and target language. This study provides a more comprehensive theoretical reference for learners at different proficiencies to understand and learn temporal adverbial clauses, as well as data support from empirical research for language teaching.

Concept-based instruction (C-BI) has proven to be effective in improving students’ command of grammar items used out of context by offering the students revision lessons, but its effect in teaching newly-introduced grammar items in a complex context of a specific genre remains unclear. To probe C-BI’s effect on students’ use of the past simple and present perfect tenses out of context and in the context of a narrative by its description of the grammar concept in its materialization, that is, the Schemas of a Complete Orienting Basis of an Action (SCOBAs), we taught the two tenses to 40 eighth-graders in a Chinese middle school in our three-week teaching experiment. The qualitative and quantitative analysis of the results shows that i) in both out-of-context use and in-context use, accuracy of using the target tenses is higher after C-BI intervention; ii) by improving their conceptual knowledge through C-BI, the students are helped to pin down reference time and are hence more certain in using the target tenses. Moreover, they are encouraged to use the newly-introduced tenses in the complex context of the narrative genre; iii) both in simple contexts or complex contexts, the SCOBAs are effective in helping students navigate the learning task and determine their intended meaning by establishing temporal reference in the context.

This study aims to explore whether developing critical thinking ability from the perspective of pragmatic presupposition can help non-English majors improve their writing achievements. This empirical study employs tests as the instruments. 126 non-English majors from a key university of Shandong Province participate in the study. The results of the Ennis-Weir Critical Thinking Essay Test indicate that most subjects (95%) have inadequate or limited critical thinking ability, which leads to digression, repetitive and lengthy description, and unconvincing arguments, as well as illogical or incoherent structures in writing. After a ten-week teaching instruction from the perspective of pragmatic presupposition, students in experimental group improve their writing achievements, indicating that the instruction of critical thinking ability from the perspective of pragmatic presupposition may have certain effects on their writing performance. The study will promote the application of pragmatic presupposition to writing teaching and offer some implications for the teaching of English writing.

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.