Volume 45, Issue 2

This study investigates how Chinese logogriphs are comprehended by learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) with different Chinese proficiencies and cultural backgrounds. Eighty-eight CFL learners from four cultures (South Koreans, Southeast Asians, Western Caucasians and Arabs) were divided into two Chinese proficiency groups according to their HSK scores, and 15 L1 Chinese speakers also took part in the experiment as a control group. The participants were asked to write down how they interpreted Chinese logogriphs in questionnaires. An ANOVA analysis was conducted to examine the effects of Chinese proficiency and cultural background on logogriph comprehension. The results indicate that the accuracy of logogriph comprehension and the frequency of adopting logogriph-solving strategies positively correlated with the learners’ Chinese proficiency, and that those with higher proficiency used more linguistic and cultural knowledge of the target language. As for cultural influence, Western Caucasians tended to think more visually than the other three cultural groups, and South Koreans and Southeast Asians were better at activating Chinese semantic knowledge. The closer the CFL learners’ culture is to Chinese culture, the more similar strategies they adopted to those of L1 Chinese participants. Moreover, the participants’ Chinese proficiency and cultural background show an interactive effect on their logogriph comprehension, with the former factor having a greater influence than the latter in this process.

Embodiment theories proposed that the comprehension of language involves sensory-motor simulation in the brain. The present study examined the brain response to motor compatibility effect in comprehending action-related linguistic materials for participants learning Chinese as a second language (L2). In this study, participants are required to read action-related sentences describing an agent performing two manual actions simultaneously or sequentially by manipulating temporal conjunctions. The sentences with simultaneous actions are marked by Chinese parallel structure 一边……一边…… (“while”) showing non-congruent motor condition while the sequential action sentences are marked by 先……然后…… (“after”) showing congruent motor condition. Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) were recorded with the second verb phrase. A larger fronto-central late positivity was observed for the sentences with simultaneous actions rather than the sentences with sequential actions due to body constraints, revealing that late L2 Chinese learners integrate embodied knowledge while processing action-related complex sentence despite demanding more cognitive resources, and longer processing time.

This study investigates how orthographic, semantic and contextual variables—including word length, concreteness, and contextual support—impact on the processing and learning of new words in a second language (L2) when first encountered during reading. Students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) were recruited to read sentences for comprehension, embedded with unfamiliar L2 words that occurred once. Immediately after this, they received a form recognition test, a meaning recall test, and a meaning recognition test. Eye-movement data showed significant effects of word length on both early and late processing of novel words, along with effects of concreteness only on late-processing eye-tracking measures. Informative contexts were read slower than neutral contexts, yet contextual support did not show any direct influence on the processing of novel words. Interestingly, initial learning of abstract words was better than concrete words in terms of form and meaning recognition. Attentional processing of novel L2 words, operationalized by total reading time, positively predicted L2 learners’ recognition of new orthographic forms. Taken together, these results suggest: 1) orthographic, semantic and contextual factors play distinct roles for initial processing and learning of novel words; 2) online processing of novel words contributes to L2 learners’ initial knowledge of unfamiliar lexical items acquired from reading.

This paper reports on part of the findings of a large-scale study exploring the viewpoints of Chinese ELT stakeholders (students, teachers and administrators) on native speakerism in order to find out whether current EFL education in China is still affected by this chauvinistic ideology. The analysis of data via a critical lens reveals that the vast majority of the participants conferred upon NS products (teacher, language, culture and teaching methodology) a status superior to that granted to the NNS counterparts and failed to see linguacultural and epistemological inequalities between the English speaking West and traditional NNS countries, inter alia, China. These findings suggest that the three participant groups as an entirety succumb to native speakerism, and by extension that ELT in China is still haunted to a great degree by this ideology. Given that this study treats each participant group separately, future studies are expected to explore inter-group interactions in ideology.

In the area of computer-assisted language learning (CALL), although a number of studies have adopted various CALL-based devices (e. g., blogs, gaming, and synthetic environments) to foster second language (L2) acquisition, the vital component of instruction has received little attention. The present study explored the usefulness of CALL-based communication in conjunction with instruction on EFL learners’ L2 pragmatic development. Sixty-two EFL students from a university in China were recruited for the current research. The experimental group communicated with a native English speaker through synchronous messaging via Skype and had two instructional sessions pertinent to compliment responses, while the control group interacted with a native English speaker via Skype without having the teaching intervention. Findings from an independent samples t -test demonstrated that the experimental group produced significantly more proper compliment responses in the immediate posttest than the control group ( p < . 001). Moreover, a significant difference ( p < . 001) was found for the experimental group between the pre-intervention and delayed post-intervention mean scores, suggesting that CALL coupled with teaching intervention had a long-term impact on learners’ L2 pragmatic development. These findings enrich our understanding of the beneficial and lasting influence of combining CALL with instruction on EFL students’ pragmatic development. In addition, pedagogical implications for deploying CALL paired with L2 pragmatics instruction are provided.

This study investigates students’ attitudes towards classroom code-switching (CS) between Chinese and English, and how such attitudes are influenced by learning motivation and language anxiety, the two focal variables of the present study. A total of 550 students from a university in northwest China took part in an online survey. The results of quantitative analyses suggest a division of attitudes towards CS, acknowledging its usefulness but dismissing its symbolic value. Such attitudes can be predicted based on the focal learner characteristics. The implications of the findings are discussed vis-à-vis the social psychology of CS and an optimal use of CS to assist language learning and teaching.

Rather than looking at variables like grammatical feature type, proficiency, and L1 as separate, we must start to view them as interrelated and codependent. In this way, educators may finally learn how to maximize the effect of corrective feedback (CF). A meta-analysis of 13 studies was conducted to examine four styles of CF (implicit prompt, implicit reformulation, explicit prompt, and explicit reformulation) along with the following variables: grammatical feature type, L1 similarity (with Mandarin Chinese), and proficiency level. Results suggest that effect size is highly dependent upon the grammatical feature targeted. Explicit feedback appears to have a scaffolding effect for more semantically or syntactically complex grammatical features. Implicit reformulations (recasts) also provide scaffolding, yielding larger effect sizes than implicit prompts when used with L1 dissimilar features that are more semantically or syntactically complex.

In recent years there has been a proliferation of studies demonstrating the value of teaching abroad as much for its benefits for the training and professional development of these teachers, as for its impact and beneficial effects on students. This article uses transformative learning as a theoretical framework to interpret the achievements associated with the experience of teaching abroad, and to identify and analyze different motivational factors, adjustments, changes, challenges, and perspectives of Chinese teachers linked to a Confucius Institute in Spain, through a qualitative analysis of narratives elicited through in-depth interviews and focus groups. It highlights the role and potential of the transnational, intercultural experience of these teachers as authentic actors in the part played by the Confucius Institutes in language teaching and the promotion of Chinese culture, indicating many issues including language difficulties, professional adjustment, ideas about education, beliefs of teachers and the management of the program.