Alignment effect in the continuation task of Chinese low-intermediate English learners

Yongyue Cui; Lianrui Yang; Brent Wolter

doi:10.1515/applirev-2019-0035

Article

Alignment effect in the continuation task of Chinese low-intermediate English learners

Yongyue Cui , Lianrui Yang and Brent Wolter

Published/Copyright: October 8, 2019

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From the journal Applied Linguistics Review Volume 13 Issue 4

Abstract

This article aims to probe into whether low-intermediate EFL learners align their writing with an original text in a continuation task (using stories with the middle part missing). The study examined the effect of alignment on words, phrases, sentences, error rates and writing quality. Sixty low-intermediate EFL learners were divided into two groups. In the first week, group A (n=30) read the Chinese version of a story and group B (n=30) read the corresponding English version. They were then asked to finish the stories in written English using their imaginations. The two groups performed the same task in reverse conditions in the second week. Quantitative results were supplemented by two questionnaires and an interview, which were used to consolidate the quantitative data. The results revealed that: (1) low-intermediate Chinese EFL learners can align their writing with the original text in a story continuation task (with the middle part missing), (2) alignment can foster learners’ writing in terms of linguistic features, error rates and overall quality of writing, and (3) the participants who performed the English-based continuation task exhibited stronger alignment effects than those who performed the Chinese-based continuation task.

Keywords: low-intermediate EFL learners; alignment effect; story continuation task

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the anonymous reviewers for their useful comments. They thank their friends for coding the complicated data. They also thank the teacher and her students who participated in the research. The research was supported by a grant from The National Social Science Fund Key Project of China “Chinese English Learners’ Second Language Pragmatic Comptences Research” (17AYY023).

Appendix A

Questionnaire 1

Please read the following queations and tick only one box.

Name：__________ Group：_________

1. Age：_______ in years Gender：□ Male □ Female

2. English have learned：_______in years

3. Have you spent a long period (at least a total of three months) in English-speaking countries(e. g. traveling, studying)?

□ Yes □ No

4. Have you ever read the story?

□ Yes □ No

5. Have you ever attended TOEFL training?

□ Yes □ No

6. Was this your first time to do the English-based continuation task?

□ Yes □ No

7. Did you try to mimic some expressions(words, phrases or sentences) in the provided text?

□ Yes □ No

8. Do you believe that the English-based continuation task is better than the Chinese-based one? If your answer is “Yes”, please list at least two reasons.

Thank you very much for your help!

Questionnaire 2

Please read the following queations and tick only one box.

Name：__________ Group：_________

1. Age：_______ in years Gender：□ Male □ Female

2. English have learned：_______in years

3. Have you spent a long period (at least a total of three months) in English-speaking countries(e. g. traveling, studying)?

□ Yes □ No

4. Have you ever read the story?

□ Yes □ No

5. Have you ever attended TOEFL training?

□ Yes □ No

6. Was this your first time to do the Chinese-based continuation task?

□ Yes □ No

7. Did you try to mimic some expressions(words, phrases or sentences) in the provided text?

□ Yes □ No

8. Do you believe that the Chinese-based continuation task is better than the English-based one? If your answer is “Yes”, please list at least two reasons.

Thank you very much for your help!

Appendix B Interview guide

Did you try to mimic some expressions in the provided text?
Did you learn some words from the text and use them in your writing? Please give some examples.
Did you learn some phrases from the text and use them in your writing? Please give some examples.
Did you learn some sentences from the text and use them in your writing? Please give some examples.
Compare English-based continuation task with Chinese-based continuation task. Which one do you think is better for your writing? Why?
What do you think of your writing?

Appendix C The English Writing Rubrics of College Entrance Examination (translated from Chinese)

Content	Language use	Organization
A(22–25). The writing is strongly consistent with the topic.	Minor lexical or grammatical errors do not interfere with meaning.	The writing is well organized using appropriate transition words or transitional sentences.
B(18–21). The writing is generally consistent with the topic.	Noticeable minor language errors do not interfere with meaning.	The writing is generally organized using appropriate transition words or transitional sentences.
C(15–17). The writing is mostly consistent with the topic.	Occasional noticeable errors may obscure the meaing of some sentences.	The writing is mostly organized using transition words or transitional sentences.
D(11–14). The writing is somewhat inconsistent with the topic.	Errors may obscure the meaning of most sentences frequently.	The writing is not coherent. The ideas are not well conveyed.
E(6–10). The writing is inconsistent with the topic.	Serious errors in sentence structure or usage that severely interferes with meaning.	Serious errors totally interferes with the meaning.
F(0–5). The writing is consists of several words. The topic is not clear.	Disorganization makes the writing difficult to understand.	The writing is totally disorganized.

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Published Online: 2019-10-08

Published in Print: 2022-07-26

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2019-0035

Keywords for this article

low-intermediate EFL learners; alignment effect; story continuation task