Introducing graphic organisers in reading instruction to Chinese primary EFL learners

Under the framework of Directed Motivational Currents (DMCs), the present study aimed to explore the motivational dynamics of Chinese tertiary-level EFL learners’ English learning and to identify the possible parameters that influence Chinese EFL learners’ DMC-typed motivational states in their English learning. Data were collected from 10 focal Chinese tertiary-level EFL learners through reflective journal, trajectory equivalent modeling and semi-structured interview over a two-semester-long IELTS training course. The collected data were examined with thematic analysis and the findings indicated that: (1) Chinese tertiary-level EFL learners experienced the clear DMC-typed motivational surges during their journey of English learning; (2) Chinese tertiary-level EFL learners’ DMCs states were affected by various contextual factors which could be examined under three major themes, namely important others, instructional elements, and the exam pressure. The findings not only add to the literature on the validity of DMCs construct in the Chinese EFL context, but offer implications about how to facilitate the DMC-typed motivations in the classroom language instruction.

The objectives of the current study were to explore effects of using graphic organizers in English reading instruction on English reading ability of EFL elementary school students as well as to examine the opinions about using graphic organizers in the English reading course. The participants were 34 fifth-grade Thai elementary school students who studied in a private school in Bangkok in the second semester of the academic year 2013. Five types of graphic organizers: Timeline, Descriptive, Compare-and-Contrast, Cause-and-Effect and Problem-and-Solution organizers were employed in the current study. The research instruments in this study were the English reading comprehension pretest and posttest and the opinion questionnaire. The instruction lasted for 13 weeks. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to obtain mean and standard deviations, and the scores from the tests wer compared with the paired sample t-test.The findings revealed that the participants significantly gained higher scores on the posttest after learning in the reading instruction using graphic organizers. In addition, the participants were satisfied with the English reading course using graphic organizers. They revealed that the graphic organizers helped them to see the text structures and comprehend reading passages better.

Purpose: Given that the affective side of language learning contributes in a significant way to enriching learners’ language learning, this study aimed to integrate English literature into graphic organizers. The purpose of this study was to apply and investigate how incorporating graphic organizers affected the students. Methods: An examination of the Literature based English Teaching and Learning Using Graphic Organizers was mainly focused on the English story The Gift of the Magi. Different kinds of graphic organizers as major materials were applied. There were seven graphic organizers in a study on Literature based English Teaching and Learning Using Graphic Organizers. The first step was the formation of a Cluster diagram, the second was a Vocabulary graphic organizer, the third was a Star diagram,the fourth was a Problem-solving organizer, the fifth was a Sequence chart, the sixth was a Story map and the last step was creating a graphic organizer. Results: This study was based on students' self-evaluations, teacher's observations including such factors as students' attitudes, self-confidence in English and the development of English competency. Graphic organizers such as Literature based English Teaching and Learning are efficient and interesting materials for students' understanding of literary elements. Conclusion: It is useful to understand the theme of the story, various characters, the setting, and the plot of the story. English teaching and learning using graphic organizers can be highly effective in helping students to improve their English skills and to lead to self-directed English learning.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the pragmatic features of Chinese college EFL learners’ compliment responses (CR) in English. Since nowadays there is a large population learning English in China and there are limited researches on how the English language is used by Chinese EFL learners, to study the patterns of Chinese EFL learners' use of English is significant. The data of this study were collected by role play. Twelve short films which contain compliments from native English speakers were designed and recorded. These scenes were controlled by four variables: gender, social status, types of compliments and the formality of the situation. Then these short films were played to 360 Chinese undergraduate students which were divided into 12 groups. The compliment responses of these participants were recorded immediately. Then, these records were transcribed and the data was analyzed statistically with the reference of the four variables. The results of the analysis indicate that a majority of Chinese EFL learners tend to accept the compliment while seldom Chinese EFL learners still apply non agreement as their CR strategy. Also, Chinese EFL learners prefer to apply a mixed CR strategy when they are complimented and they prefer to accommodate a combined pragmatics which is based on Chinese and English pragmatics. Chinese EFL learners could respond to compliments in English in several CR strategies that did not discussed in previous studies. The four variables of gender, social status, types of compliments and the formality of the situation have a huge influence on Chinese English learners’ responses to compliments in English.

In comparison with other skill-specific foreign language anxiety, foreign language reading anxiety (FLRA) was a less-researched realm. The purpose of the study was to investigate the general profile and possible sources of FLRA in the under-explored Chinese senior high EFL students. The 60 participants were from 2 high schools in China. The study employed the “explanatory sequential mixed method design” (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2018). First, the quantitative data were collected via the adapted Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS) (Lu & Liu, M., 2015), and analyzed with SPSS. Then, based on participants’ scores on FLRAS (adapted), specific responses, and consent to further interviews, 4 subjects were selected as sources of qualitative data. The conclusions were drawn that (1) more than half the learners (78.33%) were generally exposed to little FLRA (M=2.57); (2) possible FLRA sources could be divided into 4 main categories, with overall 16 subsets: (a) individual factors (reading interest, self-expectation, reading strategy use, background knowledge); (b) textual factors (topic, task type, text length, tested vocabulary, grammar, text structure, rhetoric); (c) instructional factors (teaching method, evaluation); (d) situational factors (teacher-student dynamic, parental anticipation, peer pressure). Despite limitations such as limited sample size and scope, absence of further validation testing, and neglect of examination of background variables, the study purveyed valuable suggestions for language educators to enhance strategies addressing FLRA among Chinese EFL senior high learners. These suggestions included considering the impact of text structure and rhetorical devices on FLRA, prioritizing vocabulary instruction, and implementing anxiety-reducing interventions, e.g. the “flipped classroom model” (Gök et al. 2021). Furthermore, the study emphasized the need for further research on the more representative FLRA profile of Chinese young EFL learners, statistical examination of the relevance of various sources to FLRA, investigation of the relationship between background variables and FLRA among Chinese senior high EFL learners, and exploration of the universality and language-specific nature of different FLRA sources.

While the number of studies on the pragmatic development of nonnative English speakers has been increasing, surprisingly little research has been conducted on the development of the ability of foreign language learners to perform the suggestion speech act, with even less taking Chinese EFL learners as the target group. The present study examines the development of Chinese EFL learners’ pragmatic competence by investigating their performance of the suggestion speech act over time. Three sub-corpora representing three different periods of Chinese EFL learners’ performance were selected from the SECCL (Spoken English Corpus of Chinese Learners) to discover the changes in the use of linguistic formulae as well as suggestion strategies by Chinese EFL learners. Their performance was then compared with that of native English speakers to find out whether there was evidence of improvement across the years. The results show that (1) changes were taking place in the use of linguistic formulae and suggestion strategies by Chinese learners from 1997 to 2003, with greater changes taking place from the year 2000 to 2003, and (2) there was evidence of increasing similarity between Chinese learners’ performance of the suggestion speech acts and that of native English speakers. It can thus be concluded that Chinese learners’ pragmatic ability in English improved to some extent over the years of the study.

This study employed Kamimura and Oi (1996)’s classification of the organizational patterns of the argumentative essay structure: Thesis Statement (TS), Background Information (BI), Reservation (R), Hesitation (H), Rational Appeals (RA), Affective Appeals (AA) and Conclusion (C). 178 essays, 84 written by Chinese EFL learners, 84 written by Korean EFL learners, and 10 written by English native speakers, were coded and analyzed via NVivo. The results show that Chinese and Korean EFL learners prefer the direct deductive expressions in their English argumentative writings, which is different from Kaplan’s (1966) findings. No significant difference exists in the essay structure among Chinese and Korean EFL writers’ writing and the English native speakers’ writings. The only difference lies in the contents of the rational and affective appeals, which are still strongly influenced by the cultural and social background. The results indicate that Chinese and Korean EFL writers, especially most of the university students are able to handle the structure of English argumentative writings with plenty of writing practice and teachers’ instruction.

The Effects of Graphic Organizers and Content Familiarity on Second Graders’ Comprehension of Cause/Effect Text Anne Elizabeth Snyder The ability to comprehend expository text is vital for academic and professional success; however, many students struggle with this genre. While it has been found that text structure-based graphic organizers (GOs) may assist older students in comprehending expository text, it is uncertain whether this type of scaffold is effective for primary-grade students. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of graphic organizers, level of text structure complexity, and content familiarity on second grade students’ comprehension, recall, and sensitivity to cause/effect text structure. A mixed-factorial posttest-only design was utilized, with two between-subjects factors (graphic organizers and level of cause/effect structure complexity) and one within-subjects factor (content familiarity). Eighty second-grade students from two elementary schools were asked to read four cause/effect passages with familiar content (i.e. concerning objects and events that students encounter in their everyday lives) and four cause/effect passages with unfamiliar science content. Students were randomly assigned to either a graphic organizer condition or a control condition. Students in the graphic organizer condition read a cause/effect graphic organizer after reading each passage, while students in the control condition re-read the passage. Half of the students read passages with a one cause-one effect text structure and half read passages with a more complex one cause-multiple effects structure. Text structure comprehension, recall, and sensitivity were measured via student performance on three tasks. In the first task, students answered questions designed to assess structural awareness and comprehension. The proportions of structure questions answered correctly were calculated for

Web-based Cognitive Writing Instruction (WeCWI) was designed for the second language (L2) learners’ language and cognitive development. It is facilitated by digital technology and incorporates reading, discussion and writing activities in language instructions. With an increased opportunity for collaboration and positive outcomes through computer-mediated L2 writing, WeCWI emphasises technology-enhanced explicit writing instruction, and joint construction between peers and the instructor that has been proven efficient for writing development. The current study intends to investigate the effects of WeCWI-enabled instructional tool using Tencent Docs on EFL postgraduates’ argumentative writing performance. This study utilised a quasi-experimental design in which two intact classes were randomly assigned to two conditions: (1) WeCWI-enabled writing instruction (n=56) and (2) conventional writing instruction (n=55). After running an independent-sample t-test, results showed that students in the experimental group outperformed the control group in the aspects of overall writing scores, sub-scores of argument effect, and organisation. A significant improvement in language use was found within-group comparisons in both the experimental and control groups. The results suggested that WeCWI-enabled writing instruction was more effective than the conventional writing instruction for argumentative writing, as it attaches greater importance to reading, online discussion facilitated by graphic organisers, instructional videos on strategies and genre knowledge, joint construction between peers and the teacher, and collaborative reviewing and editing. The results of this study have significant implications for the enhancement of argumentative writing skills among Chinese EFL learners. Therefore, it is recommended that the utilisation of WeCWI be expanded across a wider range of settings to facilitate the enhancement of students’ argumentative writing skills.

In this study, three elementary-aged boys with high-functioning autism (HFA) were taught to use a graphic organizer called a Story Map as a postreading tool during language arts instruction. Students learned to accurately complete the Story Map. The effect of the intervention on story recall was assessed within the context of a multiple-baseline design across participants as measured by performance on modified Accelerated Reader quizzes. Positive effects were achieved quickly and maintained throughout the study. During choice and maintenance conditions, two participants rarely chose to use the graphic organizer, a visual prompt that may have been self-faded during intervention. Results show that a Story Map may be a useful graphic organizer for elementary schoolteachers who have children with HFA in their classrooms.

The present study has been an attempt to investigate the impact of using story maps as graphic organizers on developing vocabulary learning of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. Sixty male and female students, who had scored homogenously in a TOEFL test, participated in this study. Both the control and the experimental groups participated in a vocabulary pre-test. After undergoing a course of 8 sessions of reading short stories, through which story maps were used as post-reading activity in the experimental group and traditional question and answer techniques were used in the control group, both groups took part in a vocabulary post-test. The data analysis revealed a significant difference between the performances of the two groups with the experimental group outperforming the other.

Graphic organizers have been highly recommended as an instructional tool in teaching reading. Many studies have indicated their effectiveness; it has also been suggested that organizational patterns within texts play an important role in how readers process information. This paper investigates the effects of graphic organizers instruction on middle school students’ reading comprehension. It also searched for any potential relationships between different text structures and the use of graphic organizers. The performance of a group using graphic organizers with five different text structures was compared to that of a control group. The results of the data gathered over 10 weeks revealed that both groups improved in their post-tests, but the graphic organizers group performed significantly better than the non-graphic organizers group. This study also revealed that diverse learners could benefit from the use of graphic organizers, which suggests the effectiveness of implementing graphic organizers instruction in an EFL classroom.

As an instructional tool, graphic organizers (GOs) have been highly recommended and used in contemporary classrooms. Over the past decade, a number of concerns have been raised about claims for the effectiveness of GOs. These concerns involve the inconsistent research results on student improvements, the limitation in generalizability from research studies, and the need for research studies with second language (L2) students and with more extended instructional exposure time. This paper argues that GOs, which directly represent the discourse structures of a text, provide stronger evidence for the effectiveness of the technique, and these versions of GOs should be adopted in comprehension instruction. The authors propose a number of generic forms of graphic representations that apply to regularly recurring text structures, and recommend further research on the impact of GOs with learners of English as a second or foreign language as well as research that involves more extended instructional time.

The present study examines the use of especially and its synonyms, particularly, specially, specifically, and in particular, in Chinese and Korean EFL learners` writing in comparison with native English speakers` use and then investigates the relationship between English textbooks and learners` language use. To do this, a Chinese learner corpus, a Korean learner corpus, and the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) were utilized. Furthermore, widely used middle and high school English textbooks from China and Korea were scrutinized. It was found that especially and particularly were the only of the studied synonyms from the COCA that occurred with comparable frequency, the rest appearing much less frequently. Chinese and Korean EFL learners overused especially and underused particularly compared to native speakers. The earlier introduction and more frequent occurrence of especially than particularly in textbooks could possibly influence EFL learners` selection of the former over the latter. Chinese and Korean EFL learners tended to put especially and particularly in the sentence-initial position functioning as a sentence modifier, while native speakers by and large employed them in sentence-medial position functioning as a modifier of an adjective. The collocates of especially and particularly in Chinese and Korean EFL learners` texts were mostly nouns, whereas adjectives were the most common collocates in native speakers` texts. Some implications of the findings are also discussed.

This chapter describes the setting, participants, and the procedures of data collection and analysis of the study. It mainly focuses on the issue of how the Chinese EFL learners’ genre awareness is fostered. Through analysis of the pre-research and post-research questionnaires, it is found that the Chinese EFL learners had scant genre awareness before the implementation of genre-based approach, whereas they greatly increased their genre awareness after they went through the systematic genre-based training and practice for 18 weeks. By closely examining the data of interviews and multifaceted portfolios provided by the learners themselves, it is observed that the Chinese EFL learners’ genre awareness was fostered basically through the systematic genre-based instruction in the EFL reading and writing classes, the multitude of genre-based class activities for reading and writing, and the use of the genre-based multifaceted writing portfolio. It is also found that the Chinese EFL learners’ genre awareness fostered had a positive effect on the learners’ generic reading and writing competence. The findings are discussed in terms of genre theory, input theory, and social cultural theory as well.