Chinese EFL Learners Research Articles

The roles of language mindsets and willingness to communicate in receptive pragmatic competence among Chinese EFL learners

ABSTRACT Language mindsets and L2 willingness to communicate (L2 WTC) are closely related and have contributed greatly to learners’ L2 learning achievements under the SLA paradigm. However, relatively less attention has been given to the influence of language mindsets and L2 WTC on L2 pragmatic acquisition. This paper aims to examine the potential influence of language mindsets and L2 WTC on receptive pragmatic competence, which further includes pragmatic comprehension, awareness, and perception. A total of 208 Chinese university students of English were administered a biographic survey, a receptive pragmatic task, along with language mindsets and L2 WTC questionnaires. The results showed that growth language mindsets predicted pragmatic awareness and that L2 WTC predicted sociopragmatic inappropriateness perception. Language mindsets and L2 WTC did not play a predictive role in pragmatic comprehension. Gender served as the exclusive and significant moderator in the interaction between pragmatic comprehension and L2 WTC. Pedagogical implications for pragmatic instructors and practitioners and suggestions for future research are also provided.

The effect of self-directed online metacognitive listening practice on Chinese EFL learners' listening ability, metacognition, and self-efficacy.

Research into metacognitive listening instruction under the Metacognitive Pedagogical Cycle (MPC) has been growing in recent decades, but its effects on L2 listening comprehension, metacognitive awareness, and self-efficacy remain inconclusive. In this mixed-method study, we developed a self-directed online listening practice based on the MPC and investigated its effects on 89 Chinese intermediate EFL learners over 14 weeks. Learners were assigned to either an experimental group, which used the online metacognitive listening practice, or a control group, which used the traditional listening practice without stressing metacognitive awareness. Multiple data sources (listening tests, questionnaires, reflective notes, and interviews) were used to assess learners' listening comprehension, metacognitive awareness, and listening self-efficacy. Results showed that online metacognitive listening practice significantly improved the learners' listening comprehension, but there was little evidence that it increased metacognitive awareness or listening self-efficacy. This study suggests that deploying online listening practice under MPC is a more effective way to improve L2 learners' listening comprehension than traditional listening practice. However, the task-setting of MPC and the task-dependence of self-efficacy may constrain the development of some factors of metacognitive awareness and self-efficacy.

Systematic Literature Review of Crosslinguistic Analysis of Stance Markers in EFL Learners’ Academic Writing in English

Evaluating the use of stance markers is an important approach to investigate the interactional and persuasive nature of academic writing in English. However, the problems EFL learners’ face using of stance markers and its research methodologies in crosslinguistic analysis are uncertain. This systematic literature review examined problems EFL learners’ face in using of stance markers and the research methodologies used to identify these problems in crosslinguistic research. The current study employed the PRISMA 2020 paradigm to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) of crosslinguistic analysis of stance markers in EFL learners’ academic writing in English. Keywords queries on “stance*”, “academic writing*”, “metadiscourse*” and “metadiscursive*” were used to retrieve articles from Scopus and Web of Science databases. Following screening, 34 articles were included in the final analysis. EFL learners had problems in using hedges, boosters, self-mentions and attitude markers, and their main challenges were in the overuse of boosters and underuse of hedges. Chinese EFL learners had the most problems in using stance markers. All the 34 articles adopted an empirical approach and most were a corpus-based study. Researchers were fond of argumentative essays, dissertations, and research articles from coursework. In addition, scholars preferred one-way comparisons especially between native language and interlanguage (NL vs IL). Enhancing EFL learners' awareness of stance markers would require more instructions regarding stance markers in academic writing classrooms and future research should use three-way or four-way comparisons in crosslinguistic analysis.

Young EFL Learners’ Difficulties in Getting English Input after Class: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Input plays a significant role in second language acquisition, however, young EFL learners’ input at school is limited. Numbers of studies regarding the improvement of classroom teaching have been carried out, and this research will put focus on children’s English input beyond the classroom, mainly at home. In-depth interviews were conducted to examine the experiences and perceptions of three families (three primary school students and their parents), and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to explore Chinese young EFL learners’ difficulties in attaining input at home. The findings were that these families mainly encountered three difficulties, which included absence of English guidance at home, strong dependence on school and dilemma in English material selection.

How do EFL learners process oral tasks with different complexity: an exploratory study.

The effects of task complexity on learners' performance has been a much-researched issue in SLA field. However, until now many studies fail to provide empirical evidence of the effects of task complexity on learners' processing. To fill the gap, this study examined how task complexity affects L2 learners' cognitive processes with reference to Levelt's speech production model (1989). Ten Chinese EFL learners were asked to complete two narrative tasks with different complexity manipulated by +/- few elements under the same planning conditions. Results revealed that: (1) in the complex task learners showed a slightly lower percentage of cognitive processes at the stage of conceptualization and formulation and a higher percentage linked to monitoring at the stage of comprehension; (2) learners' fluency in oral performance was affected by the cognitive processes at all the stages of oral production. Accuracy seemed to be most enhanced by learners' form monitoring at the comprehension stage. The study sheds light on how learners process the tasks with different complexity when producing the language, and is of implication to task-based language teaching.

Understanding student engagement with teacher and peer feedback in L2 writing

While studies on feedback in L2 writing have flourished in recent decades, much remains to be discovered about how L2 learners engage with different sources of feedback. To fill this gap, this study examined Chinese tertiary EFL learners' engagement with teacher feedback and peer feedback in their writing. Collecting data from multiple sources, this study investigated and compared how the same group of L2 students engaged with teacher feedback and peer feedback affectively, behaviorally, and cognitively. The results revealed that the learners showed a more complex engagement with peer feedback than they did with teacher feedback. Specifically, while a generally consistent relationship existed among students’ affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement with teacher feedback, there were both consistency and inconsistency among the three sub-dimensions of student engagement with peer feedback. Some important pedagogical implications are discussed.

Relationships Between Chinese EFL Learners’ IELTS Band Score and Motivated Strategies for Learning

Relationships Between Chinese EFL Learners’ IELTS Band Score and Motivated Strategies for Learning

Effects of Two Vocabulary Instructional Methods: Contrasting and Separating Orthographically Similar Words

While Chinese EFL learners memorize vocabulary items, they may encounter some words that are similar in semantics, orthography, phonology, and so forth. Studies have conducted research on whether the similarity of vocabulary would facilitate or hinder students learning outcomes. While most scholars found that learners can perform better when they memorize similar lexis than learning unrelated sets, i.e., dissimilar words. This research compares two ways of giving students instructions about orthographically similar English vocabulary. A total of 52 university junior students participated in this study. Pre-test, immediate, and delayed post-test were conducted for examining students learning outcomes. Results demonstrated that instructions with a highlight on contrasting the nuances of orthographically similar words impede students retention performance compared with those in the control group who were instructed without emphasizing the similarity and nuances of the words. Although the result may not generalize to all EFL contexts, it provides significant pedagogical implications to teachers and other educational practitioners. It is suggested that emphasizing the nuances of orthographically similar words is less effective for students vocabulary learning than without the emphasis. Students should be encouraged to explore and find out the similarity and nuances of orthographically similar words by themselves rather than being told by teachers.

A Research on the Use of Boundary Tone as a Turn-taking Mechanism in Chinese EFL Students’ Conversations

The boundary tone is one of the crucial mechanisms for the organization of English conversations. But for Chinese learners, the acquisition of this mechanism is not satisfying. This study examines the use of boundary tones at the turn transitions in Chinese EFL learners’ elicited English conversations. The results indicate that Chinese learners are not proficient in the use of boundary tones to show their intentions in turn exchanges, and the misuse of low L-L% boundary tone is the most prominent.

Examining the impacts of learner backgrounds, proficiency level, and the use of digital devices on informal digital learning of English: an explanatory mixed-method study

In Computer-assisted language learning (CALL), the relationship between learner background and classroom-based digital language learning has been widely studied; however, little attention has been directed to informal digital learning of English (IDLE), a crucial subdomain of inquiry of CALL. Building on our prior IDLE study, this explanatory mixed-method study set out to examine and explore the relationships between IDLE and learners’ demographics by drawing on questionnaire responses collected from 1080 Chinese university EFL learners and interview results from nine selected survey respondents. Quantitative results revealed the variance in IDLE that can be accounted for individually and in concert with learners’ demographic information, socioeconomic backgrounds, proficiency levels, and their use of digital devices and the predicting power of these factors. The results indicated that gender, university type, students’ self-rated speaking skills, standardized test results, and the number of digital devices in use contributed to the variance of IDLE. Learners’ majors, writing skills, devices using time, ethnicity, family income, and regional backgrounds predicted their engagement in IDLE activities. Qualitative results further explained these findings by highlighting how learners of various backgrounds engaged in IDLE practices in specific settings. Cross-case content analysis of the interview results provided interpretations and an in-depth understanding of learners’ situated IDLE experiences. Future studies are suggested to focus more on ethnic minority groups, students from less developed regions and ordinary universities, and non-English majors, who are less likely to benefit from IDLE activities. More attention should also be paid to how students of various sociocultural backgrounds actually engage with IDLE activities in various settings across time to address IDLE dynamics.

Chinese EFL learners’ basic psychological needs satisfaction and foreign language emotions: a person-centered approach

Abstract The importance of emotion in language learning is well recognized, but the significant contribution of basic psychological needs (BPNs) to emotion has been neglected. Moreover, prior studies have mainly used variable-centered approaches to investigate associations between emotions and their antecedents, which has uncovered only part of their relationships. Therefore, this study first set out to reveal the general levels, and gender differences of BPNs satisfaction (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) and foreign language emotions (enjoyment, anxiety, and boredom), and the bivariate correlations between them among 948 Chinese university English foreign language learners. Using a person-centered approach (i.e., latent profile analysis), the present study further investigated the latent profiles of BPNs satisfaction and examined how emotions differ across these profiles. Results revealed middle to high levels of BPNs satisfaction, enjoyment, and anxiety, but a low level of boredom. Males reported higher levels of BPNs satisfaction, enjoyment, and lower anxiety than females. Four profiles of BPNs satisfaction were identified, namely average-satisfaction, below-average satisfaction, low-satisfaction, and high-satisfaction. The majority of students fell into the average-satisfaction profile. Students in the high-satisfaction had the most positive emotional outcomes, while those in the low-satisfaction reported the opposite pattern. Theoretical and pedagogical implications were then provided.

A study on factors influencing Chinese undergraduate EFL learners' self-directed use of mobile English learning resources.

This study aimed to examine the factors that potentially impact the self-directed use of mobile English learning resources (MELR). The participants were 206 Chinese undergraduate EFL learners at Yangzhou University in Mainland China. Applying and modifying the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), this study involved six constructs, including students' performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, perceived playfulness, and behavioral intention to use MELR. The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was adopted to analyze the data collected from the questionnaire. The findings showed that facilitating conditions acted as the most significant predictor of behavioral intention to adopt MELR, followed by effort expectancy, perceived playfulness, and performance expectancy. However, social influence did not have significant effects on students' use of MELR. Pedagogical implications for teachers and students were also presented in the end.

Chinese EFL learners' empowerment: does teacher care and confirmation matter?

Inspired by the rhetorical/relational goal theory, the current inquiry evaluated the role of two teacher relational behaviors, namely care and confirmation, in predicting Chinese EFL learners' empowerment. To do this, we administered three closed-ended scales to 391 Chinese students who studying English as a foreign language in various educational institutions in China. Students' attitudes toward the interplay between teacher care, teacher confirmation, and learner empowerment were statistically analyzed using IBM SPSS Amos software. The results uncovered that teacher confirmation and teacher care serve an essential role in improving Chinese EFL learners' empowerment. This indicates that EFL learners' empowerment strictly depends on the relational behaviors that teachers employ in instructional-learning contexts. The study outcomes may have some theoretical and practical implications for L2 researchers, language teachers, and teacher trainers.

Acquisition of English liaison among Chinese EFL learners from the perspective of language transfer

This study aimed to investigate the acquisition of liaison in English by Chinese-speaking learners. Ten second-year postgraduate students of non-English majors in Tongji University, China, were invited to take part in an experiment. They were asked to prepare recordings of a set of English materials, including phrases, dialogues, and a talking topic, before and after a self-study training on liaison. To examine every type of liaison in their speech, the study analysed the recordings using the speech analysis software Praat. The results showed that before the training, the students negatively transferred the native language (L1) pattern to the target second language (L2). This kind of negative transfer of L1 Chinese to the acquisition of liaison in L2 English could be explained by the differences between English and Chinese syllables. After the training, the students showed substantial improvement in phrase and dialogue reading. The findings are expected to help both teachers and students gain a better understanding of liaison and the differences between English and Chinese syllables, thus contributing to English teaching and learning.

A Corpus-based Study on the Oral Logico-semantic Meaning-makings of Chinese EFL learners

Logico-semantics is an important grammatical resource for assessing a language user’s meaning potential for clause complexing in Systemic Functional Linguistics. This study intends to explore the logico-semantic features on the part of Chinese EFL learners in speaking based on a corpus approach. The findings are indicative that extending is the most frequently used logico-semantic type, and elaboration is the least by Chinese EFL learners. Chinese EFL learners tend to use logical conjunctions more frequently than English native speakers, which the overuse of elaboration and extending reflects Chinese EFL learners’ lack of KAL (Knowledge About Language) about written and spoken discourse and neglect of structural roles logico-semantic relations play. The study also shows that Chinese EFL learners at lower English levels use logical con-junctions more frequently than those at higher levels, which is attributed to the growth in the use of grammatical metaphors. The findings call for further research into the oral logico-semantics by Chinese EFL learners and expect to provide insights into pedagogical implications for teaching spoken English.

Effectiveness of Audio-Lingual Method and Communicative Language Teaching in Enhancing the English Language Grammar Proficiency and Attitude among Intermediate Chinese EFL Learners

The current study delved into examining the effectiveness of Audio-lingual Method (ALM) and Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in developing the English language grammar skills and language learning attitude of EFL intermediate Chinese learners. The study employed a quasi-experimental research design in the two groups of 60 Chinese EFL middle grades. The study uses a quasi-experimental research method for two groups of respondents. Findings showed that the ALM and CLT are effective in enhancing the English language grammar proficiency and language learning attitude among Chinese EFL intermediate learners. The gender gap in language learning favors female respondents to exhibit better performance. Consequently, the EFL learners exposed to the Communicative Language Teaching method showed better language learning grammar performance compared to those in the Audio-lingual Method. Language grammar learning attitude is not affected by gender, implying that both sexes were able to obtain the same level of benefits of the ALM and CLT. Finally, the study further concludes that language proficiency is not associated to attitude towards learning grammar of the two groups of respondents after their exposure to Audio-lingual method and Communicative Language Teaching implying that regardless of the learners’ attitude towards learning grammar they are capable of manifesting better performance in language learning with the use of ALM and CLT. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are presented and discussed.

A Comparative Study on Verb-Noun Collocation Errors of Chinese EFL Learners with Different Language Proficiency

A Comparative Study on Verb-Noun Collocation Errors of Chinese EFL Learners with Different Language Proficiency

Chinese EFL Learners’ Pragmatic Competence and Intercultural Sensitivity

The objective of College English teaching is to develop students' comprehensive communicative competence, including pragmatic competence and intercultural sensitivity. Through the quantitative-descriptive research method, the study explored pragmatic competence and intercultural sensitivity of Chinese EFL learners and tested whether the respondents’ pragmatic competence and intercultural sensitivity are significantly correlated with each other. The results reveals that Chinese EFL learners were at the intermediate level of overall pragmatic competence and intercultural sensitivity. The correlations between respondents’ pragmatic competence and intercultural sensitivity were highly significant. The results of the study may give enlightenment on the cultivation of Chinese EFL learners’ communicative competence.

An Analysis on Chinese EFL Learners’ Understanding of “Direct Object/Sentence Complement” Garden Path Sentences

This study explores the comprehension of Direct Object/Sentence Complement Garden Path sentences among Chinese EFL learners of different proficiency levels, as examined through online questionnaires featuring multiple introspective tests and judgment tasks. A total of 80 respondents participated in the survey, including 38 high proficiency level and 42 low proficiency level English EFL learners. The results indicated that due to a tendency among Chinese EFL learners to select interpretations with fewer attachment nodes, both groups exhibited garden path phenomena in sentence comprehension. Furthermore, following the garden path phenomena, both groups successfully resolved local ambiguities. However, the disambiguation accuracy was higher in the advanced group, corroborating the influence of language proficiency on the capability to reinterpret sentences. Ultimately, this research aims to further probe the underlying mechanisms in the comprehension of unique English sentence structures among learners, thus providing insights conducive to future English instruction and language learning.

Challenges and opportunities for spoken English learning and instruction brought by automated speech scoring in large-scale speaking tests: a mixed-method investigation into the washback of SpeechRater in TOEFL iBT

The extensive use of automated speech scoring in large-scale speaking assessment can be revolutionary not only to test design and rating, but also to the learning and instruction of speaking based on how students and teachers perceive and react to this technology. However, its washback remained underexplored. This mixed-method study aimed to investigate the washback of TOEFL iBT Speaking’s SpeechRater on Chinese EFL learners through questionnaire and interviews, and explore its associations with test performance and its multi-levelled influential factors. The participants received a mixture of positive and negative washback, such as their motivated individual learning through personal devices, decreasing real-life communicative practices, and increasing exam-driven behaviours. Test takers’ personal understandings of automated speech scoring were found directly influential to the washback of SpeechRater that they experienced. Furthermore, their test scores of TOEFL iBT Speaking were positively correlated with the implicit washback of SpeechRater on their learning but uncorrelated with its explicit washback on their test preparation. The findings have been drawn on to propose a washback model of automated speech scoring and make suggestions to test designers, teachers and learners on how to boost its positive washback and mitigate its negative washback. This research has concluded the importance of test takers’ awareness of the integrated dimensions to evaluate spoken English in real-life use. Accordingly, instructional implications are discussed on how teachers can guide the students to utilize automated speech scoring in learning and set up comprehensive learning goals for spoken English.