Downloads & Free Reading Options - Results

The purpose of this research is to study how second language (L2) learners' metacognitive knowledge on first and second language reading and writing would differ according to L2 language proficiency levels. Extending the study conducted by Carrell (1991) and Victori (1999), this research draws on interview data collected from Japanese learners of English. The interview data indicated that some effective L1 metacognitive knowledge could transfer across languages as L2 language proficiency improves; however, it appears that most learners tend to focus on language rather than content in L2 tasks. The study further explores the possibility of online reading together with sharing summaries on a social networking website to improve learners' perception of literacy skills. [For the complete volume, see ED574893.]

The purpose of this research is to study how second language (L2) learners' metacognitive knowledge on first and second language reading and writing would differ according to L2 language proficiency levels. Extending the study conducted by Carrell (1991) and Victori (1999), this research draws on interview data collected from Japanese learners of English. The interview data indicated that some effective L1 metacognitive knowledge could transfer across languages as L2 language proficiency improves; however, it appears that most learners tend to focus on language rather than content in L2 tasks. The study further explores the possibility of online reading together with sharing summaries on a social networking website to improve learners' perception of literacy skills. [For the complete volume, see ED574893.]

Despite two decades of research, findings are inconsistent with regard to how manipulating the cognitive demands of a task impacts the quality of L2 writing. This study aims to address these gaps by systematically investigating the effects of increased task complexity, specifically along the resource-directing dimensions such as +/- few elements, +/- here-and-now, +/- reasoning demands as conceptualized in Robinson's Cognition Hypothesis (CH). The primary goal is to determine the overall effect of these manipulations on the key dimensions of L2 writing performance: complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF).

This study aimed to find out the impact of "text mining and imitating" strategies on lexical richness, lexical diversity and general success of students in their compositions in second language writing. The participants were 98 students studying their first year in Karadeniz Technical University in English Language and Literature department. Participants in the experimental group were instructed on how to use mining and imitating strategies in their essays to be more competent in vocabulary choice while writing. On the other hand, students in the control group were only instructed on how to write their essays following lesson plans. After treatment, participants in the both group were asked to write two essays. A corpus of 15826 (control group) and a corpus of 25027 (experimental group) words were compiled in two months, and these essays were tagged using a computerized tagging system (Biber 1993). Though there is statistically slight difference in terms of lexical richness, the study revealed that compositions in the experimental group are lexically richer than those in the control group. Common nouns and general verbs subclasses were found to be used more in compositions of the experimental group. In addition to that, students in the experimental group received significantly higher grades than those in the control group.

Many studies have examined how written corrective feedback (WCF) can raise English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ understanding of language concepts. However, not much is known about how students’ perceptions and preferences could influence the effects of WCF. This study examined how Secondary School Certificate (SSC) students and teachers in Pakistan International School, Saudi Arabia, felt about WCF in writing classes. It aimed to identify the WCF aspects of the target language the students preferred. A questionnaire survey was distributed to 30 SSC-level EFL students and 10 teachers at the school who participated voluntarily in the study. The findings revealed that the students had sympathetic perspectives despite having preferences for WCF. They mainly believed that WCF might help them enhance their language knowledge and writing abilities. Through WCF, they learned what to avoid and how to write better. The teachers also found WCF helpful in enhancing the basic understanding of the target language. The findings showed that the students and teachers believed direct WCF to be the most effective technique for improving the former’s writing abilities, followed by indirect strategies such as underlining errors or providing codes. The research was considered relevant and pertinent as it addressed diverse aspects of WCF. 

Influence of Computer-Assisted Stroke Order Learning on Chinese Character Writing in Second Language Learners 作者： Sun,Hui 1 Wang,Tianlin 2 Yu,Miao 1 作者单位： 1. Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University 2. Educational & Counseling Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York 通讯作者： Yu,Miao Email:[email protected] 提交时间： 2024-12-16 15:30:57 摘要: Whether stroke order learning facilitates Chinese character writing for Chinese as a Second Language (CSL) learners is a subject of debate both in teaching practice and empirical research. This study employs a self-developed computer-assisted stroke order learning system to explore the effect of stroke order learning on CSL learners’ Chinese character writing by comparing their performance across different stroke order conditions (correct stroke order, random stroke order, and no stroke order) and with characters of different numbers of strokes. The results show that under the correct stroke order condition, CSL learners have a higher rate of correct output in writing characters, especially for characters with fewer strokes. Additionally, there is a trend indicating that correct stroke order may contribute to reducing writing time. The study demonstrates that learning correct stroke order helps CSL learners to write Chinese characters more accurately and possibly also more quickly; the impact of stroke order on "writing correctly" is greater than on "writing quickly." Based on empirical findings, this paper advocates for the significance and enhancement of stroke order instruction in teaching Chinese character writing. Stroke order learning computer-assisted stroke order learning system Chinese character writing number of strokes CSL learners 来自： 孙会 分类： 心理学 >> 认知心理学 语言学及应用语言学 >> 语言学及应用语言学 投稿状态： 已被期刊接收 引用： ChinaXiv:202410.00117 (或此版本 ChinaXiv:202410.00117V2 ) DOI:10.12074/202410.00117 CSTR:32003.36.ChinaXiv.202410.00117 科创链TXID： 5be999ae-a235-4124-a01d-5314566a740b 推荐引用方式： Sun,Hui ,Wang,Tianlin ,Yu,Miao .Influence of Computer-Assisted Stroke Order Learning on Chinese Character Writing in Second Language Learners.中国科学院科技论文预发布平台.[DOI:10.12074/202410.00117] 版本历史 [V2] 2024-12-16 15:30:57 ChinaXiv:202410.00117V2 下载全文 [V1] 2024-10-18 16:24:21 ChinaXiv:202410.00117v1 查看此版本 下载全文

The present study explored the effectiveness of different types of written corrective feedback and error logs in L2 writing focused on English articles. For this study, during a semester, 25 undergraduate students in two intact ESL writing courses received implicit or explicit feedback while one of the classes were asked to keep error logs after receiving corrective feedback. To examine students’ improvement, analysis of four writing tasks and a grammaticality judgment test were carried out. Statistical analysis of the data showed that corrective feedback was effective on the acquisition of English articles, and keeping error logs after receiving corrective feedback was effective to help students to better retain the received corrective feedback. The results also showed that implicit corrective feedback was more effective than explicit corrective feedback when students were asked to keep error logs after receiving corrective feedback while explicit corrective feedback was more effective when they did not keep error logs. The results suggest that receiving corrective feedback and keeping error logs can have a positive effect on L2 acquisition and the effectiveness of implicit and explicit feedback can be affected by other variables.

This article provides an overview of the contributions made to this special issue on feedback by the seven papers, examining how they reflect both the growing interest in different areas of research into feedback on writing and the continuing search by teachers for more effective feedback practices. Focusing first on the papers by Van Beuningen, Storch, Evans, Hartshorn and Allen, it discusses how these papers situate written corrective feedback research in the wider area of second language acquisition research and contribute to the debate in feedback research on research design issues. This is followed by an examination of the major findings of the four situated empirical studies by Bitchener, Ma, El-ebyary and Windeatt, and Martinez and Roca, which make up the second section. Echoing the authors of these papers, this article argues that we need more longitudinal naturalistic studies, adopting both cognitive and socio-cultural SLA frameworks to investigate the role of feedback and its impact on individual learners in more depth. Finally some pedagogic implications are discussed, including the need for feedback practices which facilitate students' abilities to self regulate and evaluate their performance, and the need to raise teachers' awareness of the different feedback sources and modes of delivery available to them.

Exploring the Effect of Extensive Reading on Young English Learners’ Second Language Writing Achievement in Vietnamese Primary School Setting

The development of written language and its functions were studied for 236 second graders (from four locations in the surrounding Birmingham, Alabama area) in 6 traditional and 6 writing process classrooms. Pen pal letters to undergraduates and written samples were obtained from three students from each class. Writing process classrooms reflect writing experiences that include student-selected topics and choice of genre. Non-linear or recursive writing opportunities are included daily. Quantitative analysis assessed the children's written language development in spontaneous writing. Qualitative methods assessed the following functions of written language: (1) instrumental; (2) regulatory; (3) interpersonal; (4) personal (awareness of self); (5) heuristic; (6) imaginative; and (7) informative. A quasi-experimental design compared effectiveness of pen pal letters as strategies for written language development in the two types of classrooms. Children from the writing process classroom provided more decontextualized topics and appeared to have more ownership and voice. Teachers in writing process classrooms also appeared to have a better knowledge of the developmental process of writing and spelling. Pen pal letters do provide an opportunity for children to use multiple functions of language. Most of the children perceive their writing experiences as positive. Four tables and 1 figure present study data, and 45 references are included. (SLD)

Effective communication in English, particularly in writing, is becoming increasingly important globally. Despite being exposed to all four language skills, English as a second language (ESL) learners regularly perceive writing to be the most difficult element. This stance is held by both the English education system and ESL students in Malaysia, highlighting the importance of writing as an important language skill that is difficult to acquire. With expository writing is seen to be the least researched genre, this research seeks to fill this gap by examining the challenges ESL learners face in writing expository essays to provide potential classroom solution to improve their writing skill in this genre.  A questionnaire was administered to 68 Form Four ESL learners as part of this study to gather essential data. The collected data underwent analysis using descriptive statistics with the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS Ver. 27). The results were then presented in frequencies, percentages and the overall mean score. The findings revealed that respondents are still struggling with content development and organization as well as the writing process. Therefore, adding more interactive and student-centered learning approaches to ESL writing lessons could help students’ writing skills.

The present paper introduces an automatic classification system for assisting second language (L2) writing evaluation. This system, which classifies sentences written by L2 learners as either native speaker-like or learner-like sentences, is constructed by machine learning algorithms using word-alignment distributions as classification features for detecting word-by-word translated expressions. The experimental results demonstrated that our classification system provided adequate classification results with respect to (i) high classification accuracy, (ii) classification results reflecting the properties of L2 learner sentences, and (iii) identification of learner-like expressions. These results suggest that our classification system can be used to evaluate L2 learner sentences.

This study investigated 3 English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writing teachers' and 39 of their ESL students' attitudes toward feedback and its uses. The results indicated that students preferred teacher feedback over non-teacher feedback, though the three teachers used non-teacher feedback frequently in their classes. (37 references) (MDM)

This paper reports on the effects of using wiki-based process writing in Singapore's Chinese as a Second Language (CSL) scenarios. A group of 32 Secondary 1 (Seventh Grade) students ("Students") received various forms of online scaffolding at different steps of the writing process over two years. A whole set of teaching materials on 45 writing skills was developed and uploaded to the Wiki platform through five recursive cycles. In each cycle, the students were encouraged to apply skills they learned via Wiki platform in their writing and afterwards work as a team in the platform to peer-review each other's first draft. With feedback received from peer revision, students proceeded to edit their first draft, focusing on the content of narratives and the appropriateness on their use of micro writing skills. The scaffolding decreased as the project progressed. Students' pre-, mid- and post-writing tests were marked and compared. The authors analyzed the impact that the feedback in the process had towards the students' overall writing performance. It was discovered that students' quality of written products was improved in general. It was also discovered that students benefited the most from giving remarks to their peers' writing. The revision patterns of high, medium and low language ability students were also compared. It was found that the higher the language ability of the students, the more concerned they were with macro level for their revisions. ICT-mediated process writing has not garnered much attention in the field of CSL. The study hopes to contribute to the literature of ICT-mediated writing instruction in the field of CSL.

This paper reports on the effects of using wiki-based process writing in Singapore's Chinese as a Second Language (CSL) scenarios. A group of 32 Secondary 1 (Seventh Grade) students ("Students") received various forms of online scaffolding at different steps of the writing process over two years. A whole set of teaching materials on 45 writing skills was developed and uploaded to the Wiki platform through five recursive cycles. In each cycle, the students were encouraged to apply skills they learned via Wiki platform in their writing and afterwards work as a team in the platform to peer-review each other's first draft. With feedback received from peer revision, students proceeded to edit their first draft, focusing on the content of narratives and the appropriateness on their use of micro writing skills. The scaffolding decreased as the project progressed. Students' pre-, mid- and post-writing tests were marked and compared. The authors analyzed the impact that the feedback in the process had towards the students' overall writing performance. It was discovered that students' quality of written products was improved in general. It was also discovered that students benefited the most from giving remarks to their peers' writing. The revision patterns of high, medium and low language ability students were also compared. It was found that the higher the language ability of the students, the more concerned they were with macro level for their revisions. ICT-mediated process writing has not garnered much attention in the field of CSL. The study hopes to contribute to the literature of ICT-mediated writing instruction in the field of CSL.

vi, 255 p. ; 28 cm

This is the third annual listing of graduate theses and dissertations in English as a Second Language (ESL). The studies cited here were completed during the academic year 1977-1978. The listing is intended to provide graduate students and others doing research in ESL and related fields with specific, comprehensive data on current graduate-level studies. Information was contributed by program directors, graduate advisers, and department chairmen from among the institutions in the United States and Canada that are known to have graduate programs in ESL. Each of the 90 entries provides the writer's name, thesis or dissertation title, degree earned, university, year degree was granted, name of thesis adviser, department or program, and writer's address. In addition, most entries include summaries of abstracts prepared by the writers. Entries are listed under the following headings: (1) Adult Education, (2) Bilingualism, (3) Contrastive Studies, (4) Culture, (5) Curriculum, (6) Grammar, (7) Literature, (8) Materials and Methods, (9) Phonology, (10) Profession, (11) Psycholinguistics, (12) Reading, (13) Research, (14) Second Dialect, (15) Second Language Learning, (16) Sociolinguistics, (17) Testing, (18) Visual Aids, and (19) Writing. (Author/AMH)

This article is from Brain and Behavior , volume 3 . Abstract Introduction How human brains acquire second languages (L2) is one of the fundamental questions in neuroscience and language science. However, it is unclear whether the first language (L1) has a cross-linguistic influence on the processing of L2. Methods Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare brain activities during L2 word reading tasks of phonographic Japanese Kana between two groups of learners of the Japanese language as their L2 and who had different orthographic backgrounds of their L1. For Chinese learners, a L1 of the Chinese language (Hanji) and a L2 of the Japanese Kana differed orthographically, whereas for Korean learners, a L1 of Korean Hangul and a L2 of Japanese Kana were similar. Results Our analysis revealed that, although proficiency and the age of acquisition did not differ between the two groups, Chinese learners showed greater activation of the left middle frontal gyrus than Korean learners during L2 word reading. Conclusion Our results provide evidence that strongly supported the hypothesis that cross-linguistic variations in orthography between L1 and L2 induce differential brain activation during L2 word reading, which has been proposed previously.

This study examined the influence of Process Approach on English as second language Students' performances in essay writing. The purpose was to determine how far this current global approach could be of assistance to the writing skill development of these bilingual speakers of English language. The study employed the pre-test post-test control quasi-experimental research design. The sample consisted of 80 senior secondary school final year students. The research material included the senior secondary school English Language recommended textbook, National Examination Council (NECO) and West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) English Language Syllabi, Federal Ministry of Education English Language Curriculum, English-Language Teachers' Lesson Notes and Students Essay Writing Exercise books. The West African Examinations Council's (WAEC) English Language Essay Question as an adapted instrument was used to gather data. The data generated were subjected to statistical analysis and the results of the analysis showed that there was no significant difference between the pre-test scores of both the Control and the Experimental group which indicated the homogenous state of both Control and Experimental groups. There was significant difference in the post-test scores of the Experimental and the Control groups. There was no significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of the students in Control group. As evident from the out-come of the research, the Process Approach (which presents writing in multiple drafts before the final writing) had significant effect on students' overall performance in essay writing.

This study examined the effectiveness of teaching methods used with a second language reading and writing unit. This investigation addressed discrepancies between assessment scores in the four communicative language skill areas of students in beginning-level Spanish classes at a suburban middle school. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to explore how literacy-based practices that included teaching strategies used with reading, teaching use of the writing process with a writing assignment, and teacher employment of written recasts affect second language achievement. The theoretical base of the study consisted of second language theories and hypotheses that explained how second language learning occurs. The academic achievement of the students exposed to the literacy-based teaching methods was compared with the achievement of students not exposed to literacy-based teaching methods. A purposive convenience sample consisted of 116 students between the ages of 12 and 14 years enrolled in beginning-level Spanish classes. An independent-measures and repeated-measures t tests were used to assess among- and between-group differences from pretest, posttest, and delayed-posttest data collections. The between-groups analysis revealed a statistically-significant result in favor of the experimental group between the pretest and the posttest (t(114), p = 0.04, d = 0.36), and between the pretest and the delayed posttest (t(114), p = 0.03, d = 0.51). The findings led to a recommendation for further use and study of the methods, with additional assessment tools. The results inform instructional practices that increase students' opportunities to be exposed to comprehensible language, thus affecting positive social change.

Feedback is one of the crucial elements in language learning and teaching. In second language writing context, the effectiveness of feedback becomes even more important as it has an impact on the whole process of language learning. To increase the effectiveness of feedback, a teacher is expected to use any possible mean(s) available to suit learners' needs and concerns (Hamp-Lyons, 2001; Hyland, 2010). In this respect, rather than framing the feedback process based on the premises put forward in other teaching situations, the study attempts to bring into view the students' perceptions and preferences on feedback in their writing classes to be able to shape the feedback process based on a specific teaching context. The data for the study were gathered utilizing a Likert-Type questionnaire and a semi-structured interview from students (n = 457) at preparatory level studying English at a state university in Turkey. The data were analyzed quantitatively using SPSS 17.0 and qualitatively following content analysis. The results of the study are meant to bring in-depth insights to students' opinions regarding the scope of feedback in writing classes and to provide guidance to shape the process of giving feedback.

This qualitative analysis takes a comprehensive approach to investigate the impact of ChatGPT, a state-of-the-art language model, on students’ writing proficiency as they embark on the journey of second language acquisition. The study’s primary focus is to delve into the subjective experiences and perceptions of students when utilizing ChatGPT as a tool for language learning, going beyond mere evaluation of outcomes. By employing a combination of interviews and questionnaires, researchers seek to gain a profound understanding of the nuanced ways in which ChatGPT influences language acquisition, exploring both its perceived benefits and potential challenges. The implications of the findings extend significantly to our comprehension of AI-based chatbots in language education, and they hold the potential to shape the development of more effective language learning tools, attuned to the unique needs and experiences of learners. In sum, this research underscores the paramount importance of considering students' perspectives and experiences to enrich writing skills in the realm of second language acquisition, offering a comprehensive view of the impact of emerging language technologies on education.

This paper aims to investigate the effects of the alignment entailed in the continuation task on syntactic complexity in L2 written production. A total number of 48 sophomores majoring in English at a university in China were randomly assigned to two groups, one is the continuation group and the other is the topic writing group. The current study employs an advanced computational tool "the L2 Syntactic Complexity Analyser" to assess syntactic complexity in writing samples and focused on 7 indexes including three measures of length of production, two coordinate phrase measures, and two complex nominal measures. The result shows that significant differences exist in six of the syntactic complexity measures with the continuation group outperforming the topic writing group. It is demonstrated that the continuation task, which couples production with comprehension and entails the alignment effect, has a facilitating impact on improving the writing syntactic complexity for L2 learners. The implications of these findings for second language acquisition and L2 writing pedagogy are considered.

This paper aims to investigate the effects of the alignment entailed in the continuation task on syntactic complexity in L2 written production. A total number of 48 sophomores majoring in English at a university in China were randomly assigned to two groups, one is the continuation group and the other is the topic writing group. The current study employs an advanced computational tool "the L2 Syntactic Complexity Analyser" to assess syntactic complexity in writing samples and focused on 7 indexes including three measures of length of production, two coordinate phrase measures, and two complex nominal measures. The result shows that significant differences exist in six of the syntactic complexity measures with the continuation group outperforming the topic writing group. It is demonstrated that the continuation task, which couples production with comprehension and entails the alignment effect, has a facilitating impact on improving the writing syntactic complexity for L2 learners. The implications of these findings for second language acquisition and L2 writing pedagogy are considered.