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.

Shallow Theory in Cultivation of Intercultural Communication Ability in Foreign Language Teaching

Modern foreign language teaching emphasizes on the training of the students'communicative ability. This paper makes attempts to discuss how to effectively develop the students'ability to cross-cultural communication from three aspects involved in foreign language teaching. They are three important factors named"cultural ability and culture","communication ability"and "cross-cultural communication ability".

Research on the Cultivation of Intercultural Communication Ability in College Foreign Language Teaching under the"Belt and Road"

With the continuous deepening of the “Belt and Road” initiative, frequent international economic and cultural exchanges have alsoplaced new demands on the language and cross-cultural communication capabilities of Chinese university students. In this way, themeaning of intercultural communication is summarized, and the dilemma of cross-cultural teaching in foreign languages isdiscussed from the aspects of students' learning motivation. Finally, combined with the current situation of cross-cultural teaching,from the enthusiasm of mobilizing students' language communication, this paper puts forward the strategy of cultivating foreignlanguage classroom intercultural communication ability under the new situation, which provides reference and theoretical basis forimproving university foreign language cross-cultural teaching.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Semantic Language Abilities

Objective: The main aim of the present study is to evaluate the semantic language abilities of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) compared to normal group. Secondly to examine the role of hypoxemia, hypercapnia and pulmonary parameters on language scores. Method: We assessed 100 COPD patients with the use of a comprehensive battery of neurocognitive tests standardized for the Greek population, examining semantic language abilities, namely the Boston Naming Test (BNT), the Picture Peabody Vocabulary Test (PPVT) and the Controlled Oral Word Fluency Test (COWAT). Results: The results revealed that although the overall performance of our group of patients was within normal range, it was statistically significant lower compared to normal distribution on all semantic language tests. Moreover, we found that the percentile of COPD patients that performed in the deficient range was significantly higher compared to normal distribution. Further analysis of pulmonary parameters showed that Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 sec (FEV1, FEV1%), Forced Vital Capacity (FVC, FVC%) and FEV1/FVC were not correlated with patients’ performance on the language tests. Low Partial Pressure of Oxygen in blood oxygen levels (PaO2) was found to be able to predict the performance of patients on BNT, PPVT and semantic verbal fluency test. Abnormally elevated Partial Pressure of Carbon Dioxide (PCaO2) in blood were not found to be related to language dysfunctions. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that our group of COPD patients is more prone to present semantic language impairments compared to normal group while low blood oxygen levels were associated with reduced performance on BNT, PPVT and semantic verbal fluency tests.

An Analysis of the CET English Writing Tests from the Perspective of Language Testing

This article is mainly talked about CET English writing tests from the perspective of language testing.Writing tests designed to test the language proficiency,have direct and integrative characteristics.Writing requires the candidates to use language accurately,fluently and appropriately.

The Role of Extensive Reading in Foreign Language Learning

Researches on foreign language extensive reading program indicate that students can improve their foreign language reading ability,and develop positive attitudes toward reading and increased motivation to read.Comparing to the other types of reading.(skimming,scanning,and intensive reading.),reading extensively can result in gains in vocabulary and other aspects of foreign language learning.Teachers should provide various experience and make students have the chance to enjoy reading.and give them more guidance on developing certain reading skills.

Communicative Language Testing of Speaking

Testing speaking ability offers plenty of scope for meeting the criteria for communicative testing.The article describes the model of CLA,analyzes basic factors involved in speaking competence,discusses what is a communicative language test of speaking,and suggests some factors that should be taken into consideration when designing a communicative language test of speaking.

On the Cultivation of College Students' Ability of Translating

Translation is a kind of communicative function of language behavior.In English teaching,translation capabilities must be one of the purposes of our teaching.As a teaching activity it aims to lay a good foundation in English for students and effective teaching methods,but also comprehensive language skills,students study the benchmark one.

An Investigation of Chinese Undergraduates’Ability to Translate Chinese Cultural Items into English and Predictors of Such Ability

College English teaching in China has long focused on importing cultures of English countries while neglecting to enhance students’English competence in home culture.The present research aims to investigate Chinese non-English major undergraduates’competence in translating Chinese cultural items into English and the significant predictors of such competence.With a test and a questionnaire as research instruments,this study was conducted to assess 82 undergraduates’ability to translate three different levels of Chinese culture-specific items into English and explored the factors which might have affected the students’home culture translation ability.The results show that the participants did well in translating the surface layer cultural items,but their performance in sub-surface and deep layer culture translation tasks was far from being satisfactory.It was also found that students had positive attitudes towards Chinese culture and were willing to learn to express Chinese culture in English,but their English learning motivation in general was not strong enough,and they were not given much input on Chinese culture in their English class.Students’Chinese cultural knowledge and their awareness of the importance of learning Chinese culture in English were found to be the two significant factors that can predict their performance in the translation tasks.These findings have implications for the teaching of culture and cross-cultural communications in EFL classes.

Reading Developmental Trends in Early Years： The Influence of Word Identification Skills and Target Langauge Oral Ability to Comprehension

Language, reading, and reading-related tasks were administered to 148 children from lower primary （Standard 1, 2, and 3） in Kenyan schools. The aim was to investigate the literacy developmental trends across the years and establish which of the two variables, word identification skills or target language oral proficiency influenced reading comprehension performance. The results indicated that word identification skills independently influenced reading comprehension performance in both standard 2 and standard 3 classes, but target language oral skills did not. Further, the analysis of invented spelling task performance revealed evidence of transfer of alphabetic coding skills of first language to English orthography. The spelling errors reflected letter-sound patterns not found in English orthography. Analysis of the miscues in the spelling task revealed that children rely on first language phonological processes to spell target language unfamiliar words as long the languages have a common alphabetic system.

The Analysis of Deficiency in College-student English Oral Expression Ability and Strategies for Breaking Barriers

Referring to the questionnaire surveys and literature materials, this paper describes the current situation of college students＇ English oral expression ability, the reasons for lack of such ability and possible solutions. This research used a questionnaire survey to collect data from 146 college students from different grades, majors, universities and areas. The result shows that the deficiency in college students＇ English oral expression ability can be explained on two levels, spiritual level and oral level. Spiritual level shows that college students don＇t always have thoughts while others are communicating with them in English; oral level includes two aspects, one is that they always have no idea of how to express their thoughts well and the other is that they fail to always express themselves clearly and exactly. It is suggested that a good language environment is necessary for students to practice English pronunciation, understand culture from English speaking countries, and enhance listening skill to overcome language anxiety in communication.

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.

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.

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.

Culture Transmission in Language Teaching

Culture and language have close relation and are combined together . So teaching language is a process of teaching cultural knowledge . And teaching language is not perfect without teaching the factors of culture.

Nature or Nurture—On the Development of Children's Language

Referring to children's development,especially the development of children's language,there is a question that people are very interested in,that is,does the development of children's language on earth depend on innate inheritance or postnatal environment? In order to answer this question,this paper begins with the definition of the development of children's language,then,expounds some theories on language acquisition,finally,finds out the crucial factors influencing the development of children's language.

不同水平英语学习者词块使用的结构与功能特点

基于《中国英语能力等级量表》评价学习者语言水平,使用语料驱动的方法考察中国英语学习者写作文本中词块的使用情况,特别是不同水平英语学习者词块使用的结构与功能特点。研究结果表明:语言能力影响词块使用的准确性和多样性;词块结构方面,低水平学生倾向使用更多比例的动词词块和较少比例的短语词块,相对接近会话语篇特征,而高水平学生则倾向使用更多比例的短语词块和较少比例的动词词块,相对接近学术语篇特征;词块功能方面,立场词块和信息指示词块呈现学生水平越高使用比例越低的趋势,而语篇组织词块则呈现学生水平越高使用比例越高的趋势。研究发现对中国不同水平英语学习者语言特征的描述提供了实验证据,也为语言自动评价提供启示。