Exploration of the Impact of Language Proficiency on Vocabulary Association Patterns in English Language Education

This paper explores the lexical association patterns of English as a second language and their relationship with language proficiency.Through the vocabulary association test,the study analyzes the differences in vocabulary association between learners with different language levels.The participants were 100 non-native English-speaking un-dergraduate students from a top 200 university,such as the University of Nottingham,and a university outside the top 200,such as the University of Aberdeen;the two groups of learners differed in their vocabulary size and learning style.It was found that the two groups of learners differed significantly in vocabulary size,language background,and learning experience.In addition,the study raises three core questions:first,learners’lexical association patterns,second,dif-ferences in association among learners with different language proficiency levels,and third,other variables that affect vocabulary association ability.The limitations of the study are that reaction time was not measured and the influence of native language background on word association was not fully considered;future research should further explore these aspects.

Review on Learner Belief about Second Language Learning

Learner belief is attracting growing attention since it is regarded as one element of individual difference which account for learners' different achievements in second language learning. This article gives a review o studies of learner belief about second language learning concerning its properties, classifications, and majo approaches to investigation. Based on the review, the importance of the research in the field is emphasized.

Individual Learner Differences and Second Language Acquisition

Learners differ,so does their language acquisition.Studies show there are several personality factors affecting the process of language of learning.This paper attempts to indicate these factors to help learners have a better understanding of their own learning.

Sociocultural Theory on Interaction between Teachers and Learners in a Second Language Classroom

This article offers an overview of theoretical ideas and recent empirical research by referring to the interactive communication between teachers and learners in a second language classroom.Both the interaction of teacher-centered classroom and learner-centered classroom are reviewed within the context of sociocultural theory.The paper attempts to indicate the better effect of language learning can be achieved by complementing one another in the classroom of teacher-centeredness and learner-centeredness.

Motivation——the Major Individual Learner Difference in Second Language Learning

As one of the major individual learner differences in second language learning,motivation is frequently used to account for differential success in learning a foreign language.When comes to the definition of motivation,Ellis(2006:537) primarily defines motivation is "the effort learners were prepared to make to learn a language and their persistence in learning." According to Dornyei(2001a:8) motivation is The choice of a particular action,the persistence with it,the effort expended on it.In other words,motivation is responsible for why people decide to do something,how long they are willing to sustain the activity,how hard they are going to pursue it.

What Makes a Good Second Language Learner from the Point of Majority Language Contexts

The reason to choose this topic is because among three types of context in natural second language learning settings,majority language contexts are undoubtedly the most important type to help L2 learners enhance their proficiencies of target languages in an effective way.The first part of the paper is review of the researches that have been conducted concerning majority language contexts.From following chapters,analysis will be made on the deficiencies of L2 learning and teaching in China as well as necessities of majority language contexts.Finally,basic strategies will be proposed to help L2 learners overcome various problems in majority language contexts.

Language Learner Strategies in Second Language Teaching

Language learner strategies, which are closely associated with second language teaching, have experienced great devel?opment in the fields of theory-building and instructional practices since the 1970s. By reviewing previous research, pedagogical enlightenments can be drawn to the current English language teaching.

Attitudes of Second Language Learners towards Code-switching in L2 Classroom

This paper chiefly examines the attitudes of second language learners,specifically,Chinese postgraduate students studying in the UK,towards code-switching between English and Mandarin in group discussion in L2 classroom.Questionnaire is implemented as the data collection method and yields some corresponding findings based on research questions.Meanwhile,recent research on code-switching in classroom is introduced briefly.Moreover,limitations and pedagogical implication of the original research mentioned above are elaborated,as well as the implied future research is presented in this area.

The Importance of Writing Course for Second Language Learners

The question"why is writing course for second language learners so important"will be answered and some suggestions on how to write well for second language learners will be advanced.

Factors Influencing Second Language Learners' Goal Setting

Goalsetting, as one of the most important meta-cognitive strategies in learning, has gained considerable attention (Bruce,2011). A number of studies have focused on the positive effect of goal setting in sustaining motivation, promoting self-efficacy andfostering autonomy. However, few research seems to examine the factors that influence second language learners’goal setting. Thecurrent study aims to address this gap by investigating the goal setting processes of two postgraduate learners at Tianjin ForeignStudies Universities. Interviews were triangulated to obtain a deep understanding. Findings revealed that motivation, self-efficacy,learning strategy, time management can all have influences on the language learners’goal-setting.

The Importance of writing course for second language learners

The question"why is writing course for second language learners so important"will be answered and some suggestions on how to write well for second language learners will be advanced.

Differences between the Characteristics of Adults and Children as Second/Foreign Language Learners

In this paper, the author will mainly focus on analysis about the differences between characteristics of older learners and young learners in learning second/foreign language.

Research on China Third Language Learners＇ Metalinguistic Awareness

This study investigated the general situation of metalinguistic awareness of third language learners in Chinese universities.Data analyses showed that the level of metalinguistic awareness in those learners was significantly higher than that of second language learners.And learning a third language can improve metalinguistic awareness.

How Many Words Does A Learner Need to Know in A Foreign Language

Vocabulary learning is of great importance in the successful development of communication and literacy skills(Teresa A. Belisle, 2011). Some questions will be discussed as how many words a learner needs to know? How many words are there in English? And how many words do native speakers know. A clearer idea will be presented to show the number of words different people know and need for various purposes in the daily life.

Learner Autonomy in the National English Language Curricula for Chinese Universities 1978-2007:A Historical Analysis

This historical study investigates the concept of learner autonomy in the national English language curricula for Chinese universities.It seeks to understand the meaning of learner autonomy in China and the intentionality of promoting this concept through the curricula from 1978 to 2007.By adopting Quentin Skinner’s intentionalist approach to analyzing the history of ideas,this study conducted a systematic document analysis of three national curricula in relation to their linguistic and practical contexts constituted of 169 Chinese academic articles in total.The study revealed that learner autonomy mainly referred to students’motivation and ability to work hard on their own outside the classroom in the Chinese context.Importing this concept,however,caused ideological confusion and exacerbated the disempowerment of teachers within the dynamics of China’s English language education at the tertiary level.The study raises awareness for borrowing concepts across different cultural contexts and has implications for research,policymaking,teacher development,and pedagogical practice in second language education in China.

Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition

The proper use of learning strategies can facilitate language learning. There are abundant studies on L2 learning strategies and the initial research is studies on good language learners, which provides information on strategy use contributing to successful language learning. Strategies used by successful learners differ from less successful learners and strategies can be learned.

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.

From Babel No More to Second Language Teaching

Nowadays, there are many super language learners speaking more than ten languages, some of whom are introduced by Michael Erard in the book Babel No More. After reading the book and researching some young hyperpolyglots from the internet, people can find out that what is knowing a language and the different language learning strategies from these super language learners. With critically analyzing each hyperpolyglot, we can apply these strategies to the area of second language teaching.Key words:

Contrastive Rhetoric and Inter-language Theory

A learner’s stages of L2 development are connected by his or her L1 and culture.It is,accordingly,of paramount importance to understand the second language learners’culture and learning process and better assist them through this process in the way of teaching them English.Similarly,inter-language theory(IL)and contrastive rhetoric are affected by factors,such as learner’s L1,learning experiences,and culture.This paper talks about these two theory’s characteristics,constructs,and importance,so language instructors may better understand the L2 learning phenomena and think out better methods to help language learners improve their language skills.

Critical Pedagogy and Teaching English as a Foreign Language in Chinese College Context

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.