The Construct of the Story Continuation Writing Task: Insights From the China’s Standards of English Language Ability

Although the story continuation writing task(SCWT) has attracted much research attention, few studies have investigated the construct of the task, particularly with respect to which language competence it focuses on. In addition, although some studies have demonstrated that China’s Standards of English Language Ability(CSE) provides comprehensive insights into the development of Chinese learners’ English language proficiency, little research has investigated the relationship between CSE and SCWT. This study drew upon the CSE to develop an SCWT language use inventory to address the above research gaps. A total of 358 high school students were asked to complete the questionnaire, of which 277 valid responses were analyzed. Exploratory factor analysis(EFA) on the CSE-based questionnaire revealed the presence of six factors, namely language correctness, language variety, task planning, connecting-and-generating, selecting-andmining, and organizing. The strategy of connecting-and-generating was the only significant predictor of the learners’ SCWT scores. The paper also discusses the findings relating to the SCWT rating and other integrated writing tasks.

A Study on Left-behind Children's Communicative Willingness and Language Ability under the Influence of Internet Addiction--A Case Study of Zhejiang Province

This research studies the language communication barrier of left-behind children under the influence of Internet addiction.Leftbehind children aged 8-13 in primary school were taken as the research object.A total of 320 left-behind children from 10 primary schools in 5 regions of Zhejiang Province were selected as the research objects.In addition,30 primary school language teachers in Zhejiang Province were interviewed to explore the communicative willingness and language expression of left-behind children under the influence of"Internet addiction,"analyze the obstacle factors affecting the language communicative ability,and put forward corresponding opinions and suggestions.

Language Ability or Personality Works?:The Return to Possessing a Global English Test Certificate for College Graduates in China

Purpose-English language skills have great influence on labors’earnings from the global perspective.To reveal the economic returns to English language ability in Chinese labor market,we investigate how the global English test certificate affects college graduates’wage.Design/Approach/Methods-We adopt the ordinary least squares(OLS)and propensity score matching(PSM)methods,using data from Chinese Education Panel Survey(CEPS).Findings-The results indicate that with English test scores controlled,possessing global English test certificates have an additional positive effect on wage premiums whereas domestic English test certificates do not.Therefore for college graduates in China,the act of chasing certificates represents proactivity and is rewarded at the initial employment stage.Originality/Value-Our findings imply that global English test has great comprehensive value in labor market:the certificate is not only the important signal to students’English language,but the crucial indicator to one’s productivity personality which is rewarded at the initial employment stage.

Reflections on Foreign Language Education Policy Reform in China Under the Background of“One Belt and One Road”Initiative

The initiative of“One Belt and One Road”is an important development strategy under the new normal economic background of China,and foreign economic development relies heavily on foreign language talents of the nation.However,the current foreign language education in China has faced problems from a shortage of compound foreign language talents,inadequacy of foreign languages offered,and imbalanced regional development.Given that the initiative has higher requirements for cultivating foreign language talents,we hold that China’s current foreign language education policy may reform from conducting theoretical studies of foreign language teaching,offering more foreign languages and enhancing professional development of teachers.Conversely,China’s foreign language talents can contribute more to the effective and smooth implementation of the“One Belt and One Road”initiative.

The optimal strategy of the college English teaching is the combination of the language teaching and the knowledge teaching

The requirements of the college English curriculum teaching put forward the teaching objectives to cultivate the English comprehensive application abilities of the students, and improve their cultural qualities and their abilities of the independent learning, which pointed out the direction for the reform of the college English teaching. The language teaching mode based on the contents of the subject advocates that the knowledge learning and the language learning with the combination of the contents of the discipline, to develop the students＇ independent learning abilities, is a feasible and effective way to achieve the goal of the college English teaching. To cultivate the students＇ practical ability of using English is the basic task of the English teaching and learning. But China＇s current college English education failed to organically and effectively combine the teaching of the language knowledge and the cultivation of the language abilities and the teaching of the knowledge, leading to the existence of the obvious price scissors in the students＇ language knowledge and the language abilities. Therefore, the key to the reform of the college English teaching is to correctly position the roles of the foreign language teachers, change the classroom teaching into the process of the two-way interaction between the teachers and the students, focus on the cultivation of the students＇ intercultural communicative competence, so that the students＇ language knowledge and their language abilities can promote each other, and obtain the coordinative development, to better adapt to the requirements of the times.

Improving College Students＇ Language Applying Competence in the Teaching of Reading

College English teaching aims to cultivate the students＇ language applying competence, to help them broaden their mind, to absorb in foreign cultural essence and to improve cultural accomplishment. For college students, acquiring reading comprehension ability plays an essential part in understanding cultural distinctions and communicating effectively. However, the truth is that their reading comprehension ability and language applying competence prove not very optimistic. Therefore, the Present paper gives some insight to teachers on how reading English should be taught more effectively to college students.

Evaluate the Use of Blog Sites in the Language Teaching and Learning

In the era of rapid development of information technology,an increasing number of educators involve blog sites in their language teaching process.Although blogs are incredibly effective in language teaching and learning,there is still space for growth.Students may be able to choose helpful learning content and share their thoughts with teachers and other language learners.Furthermore,as compared to traditional educational methods,blogs encourage students to communicate with their professors or other students in written form more frequently.As a result,it may help pupils enhance their reading and writing skills,as well as their learning initiative and vocabulary.Finally,it may allow students to track their learning progress,which may be beneficial in developing students’self-assessment,self-management,and self-education skills.

Mock Examination of TEM-4: How to Make It Step-Stone for Passing a Real One?

The TEM-4 is important for English majors in colleges,and mock examination is a common mean to increase the passing rate.The studies that focus on the TEM-4 are much more than that of the mock one of TEM-4 even the latter can be regarded as an effective measure from the pedagogical prospective.This study,hence,paid attention to the mock test of TEM-4 by describing and analyzing the data collected from 24 subjects and found the relationship between reading section and multiple-choice section.The study also provided some suggestion of how to make good use of the mock test to improve the language competence of students.

Role of Modern Chinese Literature in College Education

Modern Chinese literature plays an important role in college education.It enhances patriotism,cultivates imaginary thinking and human sentiment,and encourages students to think deeply about life and improve their language ability.

A Review of English Test for International Communication(ETIC)——Based on an Example of Written Communication Task from ETIC "Intermediate"

The research examines a new accreditation test system of English Test for International Communication(ETIC)launched in 2016 and developed by China Language Assessment(a professional testing service established by Beijing Foreign Studies Uni⁃versity).The analysis and discussion is conducted through an example procedure of such assessment performance on ETIC.The rel⁃evant review aims to sort out the theoretical framework and main characteristic of the system,address the consequence and decision elicited from the assessment,and conclude the contribution of ETIC as a task-ability assessment to the use of language.It shows the interpretation of ETIC is generalizable and relevant to make the decision for test users.Such test system of ETIC is accountable to the stakeholders for the intended use.The research also puts forward the direction of the language assessment in China.

Development and Validation of a Test Measuring Language Analytic Ability for Chinese FL learners:A Rasch-Based Pilot Study

This study reports the development, piloting and initial validation of a test measuring language analytic ability - one foreign language aptitude component for Chinese learners of foreign languages （FL）. A test with 50 items was constructed and administered to 53 third-year English majors. Rasch analyses showed that the subtest of inductive language learning ability was too easy. After removing misfitting items, the reduced grammatical sensitivity subtest showed satisfactory psychometric properties. The Rasch measures of the students＇ grammatical sensitivity were also found to be correlated significantly with their TEM-4 scores and their English reading grades, thus providing further evidence for the validity of the this subtest.

DESIGN AND STUDY OF SHADOWNET-BASED BICULTURAL COMMUNICATION MODE

A ShadowNet-based communication mode was designed,and some related activities planned and carried out,for an experimental cooperative project between two universities in China and the US.The students' post-survey results from both parties were analyzed and compared and it appeared that the ShadowNet system helped the students improve the following:an awareness of cultural difference,an openness toward cultural diversity,and a deeper appreciation for the significance of cultural identity in language learning and teaching.It also facilitated some direct improvements in the language acquisition of the Chinese ESL learners and the teaching ability of their American counter-parts.