In the field of second language acquisition(SLA),weight has been increasingly attached to the role that a problem-pos ing model of education plays in English as second/foreign language(ES/FL)teaching and learning.By e...In the field of second language acquisition(SLA),weight has been increasingly attached to the role that a problem-pos ing model of education plays in English as second/foreign language(ES/FL)teaching and learning.By exploring various concepts of the problem-posing approach,also known as critical pedagogy,and its implications for English language teaching(ELT)in the Chinese postsecondary EFL context,the paper makes a tentative attempt to acknowledge the future directions of implementing critical pedagogy in the EFL context.Therefore,the paper is inspired by the ever-increasing popularity of the critical pedagogical approach in the ESL context.The application of critical orientation in language education derives from critical theories of the Frankfurt School,which centers on Marxist societal beliefs of struggling against social inequalities.With the concept of critical pedagogy drawing increasing attention from language educators and teachers alike in English-speaking countries;non-native English teachers who teach in the EFL context has also begun to focus their attention on the educational philosophy as a means to help transform traditional oppressed status of the Chinese EFL learners.From this perspective,this paper,by investigating the multi-dimensional implied meanings of implementing critical pedagogy in the EFL context,unraveling how it works as a way of"doing"in second language(L2)teaching and learning,identifying the probable contexts of critical pedagogy and the contesta tions surrounding critical pedagogy,aims to address the significance of implementing critical pedagogy as an effective way of re forming the ailing English education condition in China.展开更多
Listening has been considered as the most important language skill by many researchers but in Chinese context it has been overlooked for years.The Foreign Language(FL)listening problems gradually reveal when students ...Listening has been considered as the most important language skill by many researchers but in Chinese context it has been overlooked for years.The Foreign Language(FL)listening problems gradually reveal when students attend to the Listening Course in universities or colleges.This paper at first illustrates the importance of listening in foreign language learning and provides a discussion on the top-down and bottom-up processes with the analysis of Anderson's three-model of language comprehension[9]as well as the factors affecting listening comprehension in Foreign Language in general,aiming at the illustration of the necessity on one of the bottom-up processes-the Spoken Word Recognition(SWR).The analysis of two issued official guiding documents for Chinese university students and the current situation of English listening teaching in Chinese universities are followed,providing a general background on English listening teaching in Chinese context.Three possible foreign language listening problems and their causes are proposed,followed by the pedagogical suggestions to EFL learners who are improving their listening skills and instructors who are advancing their teaching procedures.展开更多
This research is designed to investigate interlanguage fossilization in Chinese college students＇ written output. Twelve common linguistic errors from 20 Chinese EFL （English as a foreign language） learners＇ writi...This research is designed to investigate interlanguage fossilization in Chinese college students＇ written output. Twelve common linguistic errors from 20 Chinese EFL （English as a foreign language） learners＇ writing assignments are observed. Results show that among 12 typical errors, five types of errors are declining while the rest are increasing, indicating a tendency towards fossilization. Analysis shows that negative/corrective feedback has played a key role in reducing fossilization of some errors, but it does not work in every case. Some errors tend to be fossilized for several reasons. First, language items that do not have a direct form-function relationship are likely to be fossilized. Second, advanced learners create their own language system and neglect the basic rules of grammar. Third, task difficulty takes learners＇ attention away from form to meaning. Fourth, ingrained thinking patterns have a great impact on how learners organize their thoughts in writing. It is true that many Chinese EFL advanced learners reach a plateau in the process of acquiring English. However, attention, consciousness, and training of self-monitoring ability will help destabilize their interlanguage system.展开更多
This study investigated seven learner variables （i.e., age, motivation, perception of the difficulty of the Chinese language, self-perceived achievement, self-perceived language learning ability, self-expectation in ...This study investigated seven learner variables （i.e., age, motivation, perception of the difficulty of the Chinese language, self-perceived achievement, self-perceived language learning ability, self-expectation in the Chinese class, and perception of the importance of the Chinese language） as potential predictors of Chinese language learning anxiety. Correlation analyses showed that all seven variables were significantly correlated with anxiety level in isolation. Perception of the difficulty of the Chinese language and age were found to have positive relationships with anxiety, whereas the remaining five variables were reported to have negative relationships. Multiple regression analysis revealed that all the variables except self-expectation in the Chinese class and perception of the importance of the Chinese language contributed significantly to the prediction of Chinese language learning anxiety when examined simultaneously. The five significant predictors altogether explained 34.7% of the variance in anxiety. Perception of the difficulty of the Chinese language was found to be the best predictor and self-perceived achievement the second-best predictor, followed by self-perceived foreign language learning ability, age, and motivation.展开更多
Textbooks on phonology and on teaching ESL （English as a Second Language） often present the place of articulation of the sibilant/s/and its voiced counterpart/z/as a settled matter. The/s/and/z/are described and lis...Textbooks on phonology and on teaching ESL （English as a Second Language） often present the place of articulation of the sibilant/s/and its voiced counterpart/z/as a settled matter. The/s/and/z/are described and listed in phonological charts as ＂alveolar fricatives＂, meaning that the tongue is raised and the apex approaches the alveolar ridge. Those teaching pronunciation or remediating speech problems often use these descriptions by the IPA （International Phonetic Association） as models for teaching these phonemes. A number of linguists and instructors, however, have suggested that an acceptable/s/and/z/sound can be produced in English by other means This study attempted to determine the prevalence of the acceptable alternative placements for the/s/and/z/sounds in a sample of 50 English-speaking university students. Results revealed that 64% of participants used alternate tongue positions to that described in the literature as standard. Implications for speech pathology and ESL instruction are discussed.展开更多
With the promise of achieving bilingualism,biliteracy,and cultural pluralism,Chinese immersion programs for students from kindergarten to 12th grade(K-12)in North America,especially the US,have been proliferating in t...With the promise of achieving bilingualism,biliteracy,and cultural pluralism,Chinese immersion programs for students from kindergarten to 12th grade(K-12)in North America,especially the US,have been proliferating in the past two decades.Research on this rapidly growing population of non-native Chinese learners is also growing.This research synthesis focuses on 35 selected studies published in recent years on Chinese immersion in both Chinese and English language journals and books.The review found that researchers are exploring a wide range of issues with respect to language and literacy development in Chinese immersion programs,including academic achievement in English,language and literacy acquisition in Chinese,instructional strategies and classroom interaction,as well as learners’language use and its sociolinguistic variations.These studies reflect a growing interest in and demand for learning more about the lesser-researched Chinese foreign language(CFL)learner population,and this review concludes with suggestions for future research on Chinese immersion based on its curricular features as well as specific considerations for conducting research with young,emergent bilingual and biliterate learners.展开更多
文摘In the field of second language acquisition(SLA),weight has been increasingly attached to the role that a problem-pos ing model of education plays in English as second/foreign language(ES/FL)teaching and learning.By exploring various concepts of the problem-posing approach,also known as critical pedagogy,and its implications for English language teaching(ELT)in the Chinese postsecondary EFL context,the paper makes a tentative attempt to acknowledge the future directions of implementing critical pedagogy in the EFL context.Therefore,the paper is inspired by the ever-increasing popularity of the critical pedagogical approach in the ESL context.The application of critical orientation in language education derives from critical theories of the Frankfurt School,which centers on Marxist societal beliefs of struggling against social inequalities.With the concept of critical pedagogy drawing increasing attention from language educators and teachers alike in English-speaking countries;non-native English teachers who teach in the EFL context has also begun to focus their attention on the educational philosophy as a means to help transform traditional oppressed status of the Chinese EFL learners.From this perspective,this paper,by investigating the multi-dimensional implied meanings of implementing critical pedagogy in the EFL context,unraveling how it works as a way of"doing"in second language(L2)teaching and learning,identifying the probable contexts of critical pedagogy and the contesta tions surrounding critical pedagogy,aims to address the significance of implementing critical pedagogy as an effective way of re forming the ailing English education condition in China.
文摘Listening has been considered as the most important language skill by many researchers but in Chinese context it has been overlooked for years.The Foreign Language(FL)listening problems gradually reveal when students attend to the Listening Course in universities or colleges.This paper at first illustrates the importance of listening in foreign language learning and provides a discussion on the top-down and bottom-up processes with the analysis of Anderson's three-model of language comprehension[9]as well as the factors affecting listening comprehension in Foreign Language in general,aiming at the illustration of the necessity on one of the bottom-up processes-the Spoken Word Recognition(SWR).The analysis of two issued official guiding documents for Chinese university students and the current situation of English listening teaching in Chinese universities are followed,providing a general background on English listening teaching in Chinese context.Three possible foreign language listening problems and their causes are proposed,followed by the pedagogical suggestions to EFL learners who are improving their listening skills and instructors who are advancing their teaching procedures.
文摘This research is designed to investigate interlanguage fossilization in Chinese college students＇ written output. Twelve common linguistic errors from 20 Chinese EFL （English as a foreign language） learners＇ writing assignments are observed. Results show that among 12 typical errors, five types of errors are declining while the rest are increasing, indicating a tendency towards fossilization. Analysis shows that negative/corrective feedback has played a key role in reducing fossilization of some errors, but it does not work in every case. Some errors tend to be fossilized for several reasons. First, language items that do not have a direct form-function relationship are likely to be fossilized. Second, advanced learners create their own language system and neglect the basic rules of grammar. Third, task difficulty takes learners＇ attention away from form to meaning. Fourth, ingrained thinking patterns have a great impact on how learners organize their thoughts in writing. It is true that many Chinese EFL advanced learners reach a plateau in the process of acquiring English. However, attention, consciousness, and training of self-monitoring ability will help destabilize their interlanguage system.
文摘This study investigated seven learner variables （i.e., age, motivation, perception of the difficulty of the Chinese language, self-perceived achievement, self-perceived language learning ability, self-expectation in the Chinese class, and perception of the importance of the Chinese language） as potential predictors of Chinese language learning anxiety. Correlation analyses showed that all seven variables were significantly correlated with anxiety level in isolation. Perception of the difficulty of the Chinese language and age were found to have positive relationships with anxiety, whereas the remaining five variables were reported to have negative relationships. Multiple regression analysis revealed that all the variables except self-expectation in the Chinese class and perception of the importance of the Chinese language contributed significantly to the prediction of Chinese language learning anxiety when examined simultaneously. The five significant predictors altogether explained 34.7% of the variance in anxiety. Perception of the difficulty of the Chinese language was found to be the best predictor and self-perceived achievement the second-best predictor, followed by self-perceived foreign language learning ability, age, and motivation.
文摘Textbooks on phonology and on teaching ESL （English as a Second Language） often present the place of articulation of the sibilant/s/and its voiced counterpart/z/as a settled matter. The/s/and/z/are described and listed in phonological charts as ＂alveolar fricatives＂, meaning that the tongue is raised and the apex approaches the alveolar ridge. Those teaching pronunciation or remediating speech problems often use these descriptions by the IPA （International Phonetic Association） as models for teaching these phonemes. A number of linguists and instructors, however, have suggested that an acceptable/s/and/z/sound can be produced in English by other means This study attempted to determine the prevalence of the acceptable alternative placements for the/s/and/z/sounds in a sample of 50 English-speaking university students. Results revealed that 64% of participants used alternate tongue positions to that described in the literature as standard. Implications for speech pathology and ESL instruction are discussed.
文摘With the promise of achieving bilingualism,biliteracy,and cultural pluralism,Chinese immersion programs for students from kindergarten to 12th grade(K-12)in North America,especially the US,have been proliferating in the past two decades.Research on this rapidly growing population of non-native Chinese learners is also growing.This research synthesis focuses on 35 selected studies published in recent years on Chinese immersion in both Chinese and English language journals and books.The review found that researchers are exploring a wide range of issues with respect to language and literacy development in Chinese immersion programs,including academic achievement in English,language and literacy acquisition in Chinese,instructional strategies and classroom interaction,as well as learners’language use and its sociolinguistic variations.These studies reflect a growing interest in and demand for learning more about the lesser-researched Chinese foreign language(CFL)learner population,and this review concludes with suggestions for future research on Chinese immersion based on its curricular features as well as specific considerations for conducting research with young,emergent bilingual and biliterate learners.
