A Study of Cohesive Features in Argumentative Writing by Chinese ESL Learners

It is known that writing is one of the main basic language skills and is very important for the ESL learners.However,writing skill is normally the more complex and challenging one,especially for Chinese ESL learners.A successful written discourse is influenced by a variety of elements and the good use of cohesive device is one of them.In this paper,by using the Halliday&Hasan’s taxonomy of cohesive devices as the framework,the features of cohesive devices which Chinese ESL learners have adopted in their argumentative writings will be analyzed and identified.

Tentative Study on Rhetorical Patterns of English Writing:Another Generation of Chinese ESL Learners

This paper is organized into three main sections.In the first section,theories and related research on rhetorical patterns are reviewed.The second section analyzes and discusses the rhetorical patterns demonstrated in the essays of ESL learners in China and Canada.The paper is ended with a third section that discusses the implications of this research for the future studies and the teaching of ESL writing.

A Pronunciation Lesson Designed for ESL Learners from China

Based on the reflection of the development of oral English ability and the status quo of phonetic teaching for English as a second language(ESL)learners domestically,this paper takes the dual vowel acquisition in English pronunciation as the teaching goal,carries out the design of classroom teaching content,and discusses the problems existing in the second language speech teach-ing.This paper mainly takes the dual vowel teaching as an example,and adopts the"top-down"teaching method(also known as PPP method)to design the phonetic course,including designing detailed classroom tasks and explaining the purpose of each task.Finally,the paper summarizes the pros and cons of this method,and discusses the research methods of L2 speech teaching in the future.

Discourse-Based Communication Strategies of ESL Learners

Communication strategies have commonly been used by ESL learners, especially the learners with low proficiency to fulfill their needs to communicate. The paper attempts to classify communication strategies learners used in discourse and investigate the role of these strategies in second language acquisition.

What Makes a Successful ESL Learner

What makes a successful learner? Some people learn foreign languages more quickly than others; they progress rapidly while others still struggle along making very slow progress. What individual differences might contribute to the successful learning process? Based on the case study of two second language learners and the comparison between their learning outcome and performance, this paper tries to explore more insights about the leaner factors and their influences on second language learning.

Teaching the Conditional Sentences to ESL Learners

This paper aims to explore how learners of English as a second language(ESL)acquire English conditional sentences and what causes their difficulties,especially focusing on how their native languages affect their acquisition of the conditional sentences.Interviews were carried out with four undergraduate ESL students of University of Central Oklahoma in the United States who are respectively Chinese,Korean,French,and Greek.By conducting interviews with them,the participants’perceptions of acquiring English conditional sentences will be collected and analyzed.There will be some typical errors of constructing conditional sentences demonstrated.Moreover,some pedagogical implications will also be provided,which will help students have a better command of the conditional sentences.

Motivation and Learning Strategies of Chinese ESL Learners

This study focuses on learners' two characteristics: motivation and learning strategies.In the field of English as a second language(ESL),learners' motivation and learning strategies determine how fast and how wellthey acquire the language as well as getting involved in other country.This paper attempts to explore Chinese ESL learners' motiva-tion in English and how they employ different learning strategies to practice or facilitate their English learning in class and beyond class.

The Efficacy of Multimodal Input on ESL Learners’Listening and Speaking Abilities

Language input in foreign language classrooms is no longer restricted to one particular mode of transmission,but it can be achieved by use of different modes.Multimodality or the combination of various modes has been applied to stimulate foreign language learning.The present paper aims to verify the effectiveness of multimodal input in language learning.It demonstrates the experiment conducted in two freshman classes in a university.The two classes used the same textbook supported by audio CD containing the recorded material.The experiment class,however,additionally has some visuals in listening classes to strengthen the linguistic input.The research lasted for one semester and findings from the study show that multimodal input has significantly improved the listening and speaking abilities of the students and also has positive impacts on the learners’attitudes towards language study.

Cross-Linguistic Influence in Hong Kong ESL Learners' Acquisition of Conjunctions

Language transfer is one of the most significant aspects of cross-linguistic influ-ence.It can be divided into two types:positive and negative,the beneficial and det-rimental use of one language's acquired characteristics in another.This study aims to investigate the L1(Chinese)influence on Hong Kong ESL learners'acquisition of conjunctions and whether the use of L1 has an impact on this influence.An online questionnaire combining questions about students'English learning experience and a grammatical judgement task was sent to a government-funded secondary school in Hong Kong and completed by 79 students.Evidence of both positive and negative transfer from Chinese to English was found by testing six conjunctions or conjunc-tion pairs:although...but,because...so,not only...but also,either...or,neither...nor,.and despite.The results suggest that Chinese is likely to have an impact on students'acquisition of conjunctions,and the use of Chinese in English classes can worsen negative transfer and boost positive transfer.The degree of transfer might increase when more Chinese is used in class.To alleviate the impact of Chinese transfer and to provide more effective L2 teaching,monitoring the use of L1 and regular evalua-tion might be useful.Teachers can also adjust the amount of Chinese used according to the students'English proficiency level.

How to Promote Learner-Learner Scaffolding in ESL Classroom

The current study attempts to investigate learner-learner scaffolding in ESL classroom.Analyzing how learners providing scaffolding with each other,and presenting methods how to promote learner-learner scaffolding.In this paper,discourse analysis methodology utilized to carry out the research.In the study,the data collected from the transcripts of audio and video- recorded interaction during lessons in ESL classrooms at advanced level.The finding indicated that effective scaffolding among learners can promote their metacognition.It is hoped that the present study can serve to raise teachers' awareness of the importance of learner-learner scaffolding in English language teaching and learning.

PBL在国外ESL\EFL领域的研究综述

从PBL的定义、特征、作用,以其在国外ESL\EFL教学中的实施等方面,对PBL研究现状进行了系统地梳理和分析,旨在为我国英语教师实施PBL提供参考。

A Contrastive Analysis of Conditionals in English and Moroccan Arabic: Potential problems when learning English conditionals by Moroccan EFL learners

Learning to handle hypothetical situations in a new language is always difficult(Catford,et al.,1974).This rule holds true for Moroccan Arabic(henceforth MA)speakers learning English because grammatical devices in the two languages differ in almost all equivalent situations.For instance,while English verb forms are used to indicate tense in conditional sentences,MA uses them to indicate aspect.Adopting the typology of conditional constructions suggested by Dancygier(1999)and Dancygier&Sweetser(2005),this study provides a contrastive analysis of conditionals in English and MA to predict the possible errors EFL/ESL learners are likely to make while learning English.The analysis shows that the main discrepancy between English conditionals and MA conditionals lies in the verb form used by the two systems.Accordingly,if EFL/ESL learners are influenced by verb form in their L1,they are likely to face some challenges while learning English conditionals.That is,they are likely to use the past tense in the protases of English predictive conditionals and generic conditionals since the perfective form of the verb is used in the protases of these two types in MA.Concerning the protases of English non-predictive conditionals,Moroccan EFL/ESL learners are likely to use either the past tense or the present tense since both the perfective and the imperfective forms of the verb are possible in the protases of MA non-predictive conditionals.However,due to the fact that the perfective form is the prototypical form in the protases of conditionals in MA,EFL/ESL learners are likely to use the past tense more often than the present tense.The analysis also shows that EFL/ESL learners tend to use the present tense in the apodoses of English conditionals since the prevalent form in the apodoses of MA conditionals is the imperfective.

Erasable/Inerasable L1 Transfer in Interlanguage Phonology:An Optimality Theory Analysis of/aʊn/and Sentence Stress in Chinese Learners of English

The areas affected by the L1 transfer to L2,such as phonotactics and stress,appear to have different degrees of erasability through training and practice.This paper attempts a theoretical analysis to account for empirical observations of L1 transfer in diphthong-coda coalescence and in sentence stress for Chinese learners of English in an American accent training course.Using the framework and tableau method of Optimality Theory(Prince and Smolensky 1993),the phonological paradigm that views languages’differences as symptomatic of differences in rankings of a set of universal violable constraints,this paper posits the underlying ranking at work in(a)the segmental case where[aŋ]is the observed output for/aʊn/;(b)the suprasegmental case where no stress contrast is observed for a pair of phonologically similar sentences with contrastive stress.It is argued that,in the segmental case,the coalescence of the second vowel of a diphthong with an alveolar nasal coda results from the high ranking of markedness constraints,including Complex Syllable;and in the suprasegmental case,sentence stress is greatly affected by changes in the ranking of the constraint culminativity.Aside from shedding light on the understudied issue of diphthong-coda coalescence,this research also contributes to the discussion of the comparative erasability of L1 transfer for the two areas and demonstrates how a deduction-based theoretical method may actually have practical implications for guiding the design of L2 teaching methodology of English pronunciation as well as for promoting native English speakers’clearer understanding of Chinese learners of English on the global stage.

中国二语学习者英语句子加工的心理机制初探：以主动句为例

操纵不同违例类型(语义单违例、句法单违例、双违例)及不同的违例词位置(句中、句尾),运用ERPs技术初步探讨了中国大学生二语(英语)学习者英语简单句的心理加工过程。结果发现,中间句法单违例诱发了早期左前负波(ELAN),句尾句法单违例引发了正波(P600)。句尾语义单违例诱发的负波(N400)波幅显著大于中间语义单违例,即存在违例关键词的位置效应。较之单违例,语义-句法双违例诱发的N400与P600波幅变化呈非对称性。语义-句法双违例句诱发的P600波幅大于句法单违例句;语义-句法双违例引发的N400波幅均小于语义单违例句。这说明句法与语义加工之间存在交互作用,句法加工在很大程度上受到语义加工的影响,句法加工对语义加工的影响较小。

中介语语篇中的逻辑连接词使用研究述评

逻辑衔接混乱,文章连贯性差是二/外学习者在写作过程中遇到的主要问题。综观近三十年来众多学者在这一问题上的研究成果可见,以往的研究多是利用计算机辅助分析的方法对学习者语料库和本族语者语料库进行对比,得出有关学习者过度使用或错误使用逻辑连接词的大量数据及实例。本文认为在逻辑连接词使用方面还存在以下问题有待进一步研究,即同等语言水平分析多,不同水平分析少;数据描述多,数据解释不充分;定量分析多,定性分析少;整体描述多,个别分析少等。

中国学生二语学习策略的观念与运用——一项实证研究

本文在简要论述国内外二语学习策略研究的基础上 ,使用 Rebecca L.Oxford编制的、极富价值的诊断性工具——语言学习策略量表 (SIL L) ,对我国学生学习英语的策略进行了实证性研究 ,调查和分析了他们的英语学习策略观念和总体使用情况 ,探讨了性别、二语学习时间、二语水平等因素与学生的英语学习策略使用的关系。研究结果显示 ,我国学生学习英语最常用的策略是记忆策略、认知策略和元认知策略 ,其次是补偿策略 ,最不常用的是社交策略和情感策略 ;学生英语学习策略的使用没有显著的性别差异 ,但与目标语学习时间、目标语水平之间显著相关。最后 ,文章对学生英语学习策略使用与有关因素关系的原因进行了讨论 ,同时也指出了影响学习策略选择的主要因素。