There are both pedagogical and theoretical grounds for asking second language writers to plan before they start writing.The question then arises whether pre-task planning(PTP)improves written output.To address this qu...There are both pedagogical and theoretical grounds for asking second language writers to plan before they start writing.The question then arises whether pre-task planning(PTP)improves written output.To address this question,this article reviewed 32 studies by comparing the effect of PTP either with no planning or with unpressured online planning(OLP).These studies also investigated the moderating effect of variables relating to the writer participants,the nature of the planning,and the writing tasks.The main findings are:(1)There is no clear evidence that PTP leads to better overall writing quality when this is measured using rating rubrics,(2)PTP generally results in more fluent writing,(3)its impact on syntactical and lexical complexity is inconsistent and negligible,(4)OLP does sometimes result in increased linguistic accuracy,and(5)there is insufficient evidence to reach clear conclusions about the role that moderating variables have on the impact of PTP,but the results suggest that collaborative(as opposed to individual planning)can lead to increased accuracy and that PTP tends to lead to more complex language when the writing task is a complex one.The article concludes with a set of principles to ensure better quality research and three general proposals for the kind of future research needed.展开更多
This action research explores the use of the flipped classroom approach in an English speaking class with 25 students at intermediate level in a vocational college in China's Mainland. It aims at motivating Englis...This action research explores the use of the flipped classroom approach in an English speaking class with 25 students at intermediate level in a vocational college in China's Mainland. It aims at motivating English learners and helping them develop communicative language skills more effectively and efficiently. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are adopted to analyze the data collected through interviews, teaching logs, as well as anonymous questionnaires and a summative assessment. Results show that the flipped classroom approach does stimulate students to invest more time and effort prior to instruction and during class learners do participate in communicative language exercises more enthusiastically. As a result, conceivable progress has been made in learners' performance. Possible recommendations of incorporating periodic rotation within the class, adding certain teacher-led instruction, and informal evaluation with group members, are raised at the end of the paper to help further improve the teaching/learning outcome of the flipped classroom approach.展开更多
文摘There are both pedagogical and theoretical grounds for asking second language writers to plan before they start writing.The question then arises whether pre-task planning(PTP)improves written output.To address this question,this article reviewed 32 studies by comparing the effect of PTP either with no planning or with unpressured online planning(OLP).These studies also investigated the moderating effect of variables relating to the writer participants,the nature of the planning,and the writing tasks.The main findings are:(1)There is no clear evidence that PTP leads to better overall writing quality when this is measured using rating rubrics,(2)PTP generally results in more fluent writing,(3)its impact on syntactical and lexical complexity is inconsistent and negligible,(4)OLP does sometimes result in increased linguistic accuracy,and(5)there is insufficient evidence to reach clear conclusions about the role that moderating variables have on the impact of PTP,but the results suggest that collaborative(as opposed to individual planning)can lead to increased accuracy and that PTP tends to lead to more complex language when the writing task is a complex one.The article concludes with a set of principles to ensure better quality research and three general proposals for the kind of future research needed.
文摘This action research explores the use of the flipped classroom approach in an English speaking class with 25 students at intermediate level in a vocational college in China's Mainland. It aims at motivating English learners and helping them develop communicative language skills more effectively and efficiently. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are adopted to analyze the data collected through interviews, teaching logs, as well as anonymous questionnaires and a summative assessment. Results show that the flipped classroom approach does stimulate students to invest more time and effort prior to instruction and during class learners do participate in communicative language exercises more enthusiastically. As a result, conceivable progress has been made in learners' performance. Possible recommendations of incorporating periodic rotation within the class, adding certain teacher-led instruction, and informal evaluation with group members, are raised at the end of the paper to help further improve the teaching/learning outcome of the flipped classroom approach.