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Lawrence Jun Zhang, Ph.D., is a Professor of Linguistics in Education and Associate Dean for the Faculty of Education & Social Work, University of Auckland, New Zealand. His major interests and 100-plus publications are on learner metacognition, second language reading and writing development, reading-writing connections, bilingualism and biliteracy, and language-teacher education. He is the Co-Chief Editor for System and Associate Editor for Frontiers in Psychology, and serves on the editorial boards of Applied Linguistics Review (de Gruyter), Australian Review of Applied Linguistics (John Benjamins), Journal of Second Language Writing (Elsevier), Metacognition and Learning (Springer Nature), TESOL Quarterly (Wiley), Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics (de Gruyter), and RELC Journal (Sage). He was honored by the TESOL International Association (USA) in 2016 with the award of “50 at 50” acknowledging "50 Outstanding Leaders" and was officially installed as a newly elected member of the Board of Directors of the Association in 2017.
The support of sustainable learning of foreign languages requires teacher engagement and a high level of self-efficacy, both of which are cornerstones for the persistence of teachers in carrying out teaching activities to help learning. The need for such attributes is even more crucial when online learning platforms as a mode of delivery are becoming increasingly popular. We would argue that keeping students engaged and motivated to attain their academic success online calls for the increased levels of resilience and efforts of teachers. Although self-efficacy of teachers has been widely considered crucial in the professional practices of teachers, there is a paucity of research studies on the self-efficacy of teachers who teach Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) using online platforms. Such a gap becomes prominent after the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in places where there are now numerous calls for online CFL classes. In order to fill in this gap, this study was conducted with a frontline CFL teacher as the participant and aimed to detect thoroughly the trajectories of self-efficacy of a CFL teacher in a completely new teaching context. Embedded in the Project of Sino-Greece Online Chinese Language Classrooms, this study employed narrative inquiry and case study as methodological approaches. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data that consisted of written narratives (the teacher's teaching journals and reflections, field notes of teaching assistant, and emails of students) and spoken narratives. Three research questions guided this study: What are the teacher's beliefs about (1) the opportunity of teaching CFL online? (2) the management of this online project? (3) her personal capability to foster students' engagement in this project? These three questions focused, respectively, on the three components of the self-efficacy system of a teacher (personal efficacy, efficacy within the organization, and professional efficacy). Findings illustrated that the efficacy beliefs of the teacher in these three aspects were at different levels, which resulted from the interplay of external and internal factors; when external factors appeared to be negative, internal factors seemed to play an essential role.
Chunrong Bao; Lawrence Jun Zhang; Helen R. Dixon. Teacher Engagement in Language Teaching: Investigating Self-Efficacy for Teaching Based on the Project “Sino-Greece Online Chinese Language Classrooms”. Frontiers in Psychology 2021, 12, 1 .
AMA StyleChunrong Bao, Lawrence Jun Zhang, Helen R. Dixon. Teacher Engagement in Language Teaching: Investigating Self-Efficacy for Teaching Based on the Project “Sino-Greece Online Chinese Language Classrooms”. Frontiers in Psychology. 2021; 12 ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChunrong Bao; Lawrence Jun Zhang; Helen R. Dixon. 2021. "Teacher Engagement in Language Teaching: Investigating Self-Efficacy for Teaching Based on the Project “Sino-Greece Online Chinese Language Classrooms”." Frontiers in Psychology 12, no. : 1.
Writing is regarded as a crucial skill in English language curricula at the secondary and tertiary levels in the Chinese education system. Currently, Chinese teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) often adopt a product approach to teaching EFL writing, in which they emphasize the quality of their students’ written products and show little concern with the writing process. To help L2 learners achieve sustainable development of their writing proficiency, teachers employ a comprehensive approach to correct their students’ language errors as a common practice. However, empirical studies regarding its efficacy on different dimensions of L2 writing are insufficient. This study intended to fill this lacuna in a Chinese EFL context, which investigated the effects of sustained comprehensive written corrective feedback (WCF) on accuracy, complexity, fluency, and content and organization quality of EFL students’ writing. Quasi-experimental in design, it involved a comparison group and a treatment group receiving four sessions of direct comprehensive WCF. Results show that such WCF contributed to writing accuracy and fluency over time. Our textual analysis further reveals that it particularly benefited students’ grammatical accuracy, reducing some rule-based grammatical error types. However, it showed limited effects on complexity, content, or organization of students’ writing. Interestingly, the comparison group did not improve any dimensions of their writing. Possible implications are also discussed.
Xiaolong Cheng; Lawrence Zhang. Sustaining University English as a Foreign Language Learners’ Writing Performance through Provision of Comprehensive Written Corrective Feedback. Sustainability 2021, 13, 8192 .
AMA StyleXiaolong Cheng, Lawrence Zhang. Sustaining University English as a Foreign Language Learners’ Writing Performance through Provision of Comprehensive Written Corrective Feedback. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (15):8192.
Chicago/Turabian StyleXiaolong Cheng; Lawrence Zhang. 2021. "Sustaining University English as a Foreign Language Learners’ Writing Performance through Provision of Comprehensive Written Corrective Feedback." Sustainability 13, no. 15: 8192.
Teachers who enter the translation teaching profession are generally in lack of training in how to teach translation because such training is barely provided by the current professional or academic oriented translation programmes. Therefore, they have to go through a process of learning to become translation teachers on the job in real teaching settings. However, little has been documented systematically, either qualitatively or quantitatively, on how translation teachers, especially beginning teachers, think of their teaching and themselves as teaching professionals. In this longitudinal case study, we focused on one novice translation teacher and tried to understand how she constructed her translation teacher identity during the first year of her teaching career. We employed emotions as a lens to investigate the process of her teacher identity construction through collecting data from interviews and journals. Findings show that this particular participant’s teacher identity went through a process of constructing, reconstructing and expanding. This process was accompanied by the negotiation between her identity and the various positive and negative emotions that she experienced in the complex sociocultural context. Implications for translation teachers, especially novice translation teachers, are discussed.
Di Wu; Lawrence Jun Zhang; Lan Wei. Becoming a translation teacher. Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics 2021, 34, 311 -338.
AMA StyleDi Wu, Lawrence Jun Zhang, Lan Wei. Becoming a translation teacher. Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics. 2021; 34 (1):311-338.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDi Wu; Lawrence Jun Zhang; Lan Wei. 2021. "Becoming a translation teacher." Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics 34, no. 1: 311-338.
While there is extensive literature on how classroom-based assessment (CBA) can be effectively put into practice, little is known about its implementation in L2 contexts, especially in the young English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learner context. This study endeavored to investigate teachers’ CBA practices and factors that might exert influences on them. A purposive sample of three EFL teachers from two primary schools participated in this case study. Our thematic analysis revealed that the potential of CBA in supporting young EFL learners’ learning had not been fulfilled. The teachers failed to clarify such objectives and success criteria to their students. Despite the use of multiple assessments, the teachers relied heavily on formal assessments, with student-involving assessments being less frequently used. Moreover, there was a heavy reliance on norm-referenced assessment and evaluative feedback. It was also found that teachers’ CBA practices faced complex challenges related to teacher, student, context and system factors. Practical implications for how CBA can be effectively implemented in similar EFL contexts are discussed.
Qiaozhen Yan; Lawrence Jun Zhang; Xiaolong Cheng. Implementing Classroom-Based Assessment for Young EFL Learners in the Chinese Context: A Case Study. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher 2021, 1 -12.
AMA StyleQiaozhen Yan, Lawrence Jun Zhang, Xiaolong Cheng. Implementing Classroom-Based Assessment for Young EFL Learners in the Chinese Context: A Case Study. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher. 2021; ():1-12.
Chicago/Turabian StyleQiaozhen Yan; Lawrence Jun Zhang; Xiaolong Cheng. 2021. "Implementing Classroom-Based Assessment for Young EFL Learners in the Chinese Context: A Case Study." The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher , no. : 1-12.
While many studies have investigated the effect of task complexity on L2 writing, little has been reported on the effects of intended task complexity manipulations on task-generated cognitive demands in L2 writing. This study, therefore, was designed to examine the relative effects of task complexity and cognitive demands on students’ L2 writing. Two argumentative writing tasks were manipulated with varying numbers of elements and reasoning demands to be distinguished either as a simple or complex writing task. Self-ratings and dual-task methodology were adopted to validate the manipulations of task complexity. Thirty-one L2 learners, in the single-task group, were asked to complete two writing tasks and a post-task questionnaire. Participants in the dual-task conditions (30 in Experimental 1 and 31 in Experimental 2) were required to simultaneously complete the primary writing tasks and the secondary tasks. Results from self-ratings and dual-task experiments supported the efficacy of the task complexity manipulations.
Ting Sophia Xu; Lawrence Jun Zhang; Janet S. Gaffney. EXAMINING THE RELATIVE EFFECTS OF TASK COMPLEXITY AND COGNITIVE DEMANDS ON STUDENTS’ WRITING IN A SECOND LANGUAGE. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 2021, 1 -24.
AMA StyleTing Sophia Xu, Lawrence Jun Zhang, Janet S. Gaffney. EXAMINING THE RELATIVE EFFECTS OF TASK COMPLEXITY AND COGNITIVE DEMANDS ON STUDENTS’ WRITING IN A SECOND LANGUAGE. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. 2021; ():1-24.
Chicago/Turabian StyleTing Sophia Xu; Lawrence Jun Zhang; Janet S. Gaffney. 2021. "EXAMINING THE RELATIVE EFFECTS OF TASK COMPLEXITY AND COGNITIVE DEMANDS ON STUDENTS’ WRITING IN A SECOND LANGUAGE." Studies in Second Language Acquisition , no. : 1-24.
Assessment for Learning (AfL) is a student-centered and highly interactive approach to learning and assessment and is believed to be able to enhance learning outcomes and learner autonomy. Given its potential effectiveness, the Chinese government has introduced assessment reform initiatives, requiring teachers to incorporate AfL strategies into university EFL classes. Nonetheless, little is known about how Chinese EFL teachers view AfL and whether they have attempted to enact the associated AfL strategies. Utilising a quantitative survey, the extent to which university EFL teachers valued and utilised AfL strategies in their classrooms was explored. To this end, the Assessment for Learning Strategy Questionnaires for Teachers (AfLSQ-T) was distributed to 495 Chinese university EFL teachers. After data-cleaning, a sample comprised of 402 questionnaires was obtained. Results indicated that respondent teachers ascribed little value to self-led AfL strategies, and they also scarcely implemented them. Our findings highlight the need to pay attention to developing assessment-literate EFL teachers in order to enhance their assessment effectiveness, particularly with regard to implementing AfL.
Xiaoming (Molly) Wu; Lawrence Jun Zhang; Helen R. Dixon. Implementing Assessment for Learning (AfL) in Chinese university EFL classes: Teachers’ values and practices. System 2021, 101, 102589 .
AMA StyleXiaoming (Molly) Wu, Lawrence Jun Zhang, Helen R. Dixon. Implementing Assessment for Learning (AfL) in Chinese university EFL classes: Teachers’ values and practices. System. 2021; 101 ():102589.
Chicago/Turabian StyleXiaoming (Molly) Wu; Lawrence Jun Zhang; Helen R. Dixon. 2021. "Implementing Assessment for Learning (AfL) in Chinese university EFL classes: Teachers’ values and practices." System 101, no. : 102589.
The present study investigated the potential of writing in English as a foreign language (EFL) for language learning by manipulating cognitive task complexity based on related models and hypotheses. English essays written by 59 Chinese postgraduate EFL students from different subject areas were analysed with reference to writing complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF). Results showed that task complexity had no significant effect on EFL learners’ lexical complexity but had an influence on their syntactic variation in EFL writing. Findings suggest that manipulating writing task complexity could be a feasible means to promoting and enhancing EFL learners’ language learning. Such findings might broaden our understanding of the relationship between EFL writing and language learning in an EFL learning context. The interplay of EFL writing and EFL learning is also pedagogically relevant to those who are interested in appropriately sequencing tasks for more effective language teaching.
Ju Zhan; Qiyu Sun; Lawrence Jun Zhang. Effects of manipulating writing task complexity on learners’ performance in completing vocabulary and syntactic tasks. Language Teaching Research 2021, 1 .
AMA StyleJu Zhan, Qiyu Sun, Lawrence Jun Zhang. Effects of manipulating writing task complexity on learners’ performance in completing vocabulary and syntactic tasks. Language Teaching Research. 2021; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJu Zhan; Qiyu Sun; Lawrence Jun Zhang. 2021. "Effects of manipulating writing task complexity on learners’ performance in completing vocabulary and syntactic tasks." Language Teaching Research , no. : 1.
Recognized as an essential component of 21st century skills, self-regulation, also as a robust and vibrant theory, has been extensively researched in the field of education psychology for many decades. However, it is an area of research whose theoretical principles that drive the research work have not been sufficiently applied to the field of second language acquisition (SLA), applied linguistics, or foreign language education. Inspired by the heated discussion on self-regulation and language learning strategies in recent years (Rose et al. 2018; Griffiths 2020), this brief article presents a critical review of how self-regulation has been applied to second/foreign language learning and teaching in the past 15 years. By taking stock of conceptual and methodological issues, we highlight the state-of-the-art research and propose key foci for future studies. We conclude that self-regulation principles, measurements, and practices have a solid ground for enriching second/foreign language learning and teaching, and thus offer a complex and broad range of research possibilities.
Lin Sophie Teng; Lawrence Jun Zhang. Can Self-Regulation be Transferred to Second/Foreign Language Learning and Teaching? Current Status, Controversies, and Futures Directions. Applied Linguistics 2021, 1 .
AMA StyleLin Sophie Teng, Lawrence Jun Zhang. Can Self-Regulation be Transferred to Second/Foreign Language Learning and Teaching? Current Status, Controversies, and Futures Directions. Applied Linguistics. 2021; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLin Sophie Teng; Lawrence Jun Zhang. 2021. "Can Self-Regulation be Transferred to Second/Foreign Language Learning and Teaching? Current Status, Controversies, and Futures Directions." Applied Linguistics , no. : 1.
A number of studies have reported the cultural representations in English textbooks in many contexts, especially those in Asia. However, these studies relied on a small data set and the findings suffered severe limitations. To overcome such shortcomings, we self-built a corpus that has 40 volumes/books of over one million words to examine the cultural constellations evident in 10 sets of university English textbooks in China. With such a large corpus of 864 texts, which significantly exceeds the number of texts examined in previous studies, we intended to offset the weakness of manual content analysis in mining big data and thus also reduce subjectivity markedly. We subjected the whole data set to thematic coding through corpus tools. We found that: 1) the dominance of American/British cultures in these texts is prevalent, with the cultures of other Inner-circle countries in the periphery, and the cultures of the Outer-circle and Expanding-circle countries almost entirely neglected; 2) these textbooks showed little interest in local or Chinese cultures. We conclude by positing that the dominance of Anglo-American monocultural representation in English textbooks is problematic in an increasingly multilingual and multicultural world.
Yanhong Liu; Lawrence Jun Zhang; Stephen May. Dominance of Anglo-American cultural representations in university English textbooks in China: a corpus linguistics analysis. Language, Culture and Curriculum 2021, 1 -19.
AMA StyleYanhong Liu, Lawrence Jun Zhang, Stephen May. Dominance of Anglo-American cultural representations in university English textbooks in China: a corpus linguistics analysis. Language, Culture and Curriculum. 2021; ():1-19.
Chicago/Turabian StyleYanhong Liu; Lawrence Jun Zhang; Stephen May. 2021. "Dominance of Anglo-American cultural representations in university English textbooks in China: a corpus linguistics analysis." Language, Culture and Curriculum , no. : 1-19.
A Book Review on Pedagogies and Policies for Publishing Research in English: Local Initiatives Supporting International Scholars James Corcoran, Karen Englander, and Laura-Mihaela Muresan (New York, NY: Routledge), 2019, 299 pages, ISBN 9781138558090 With the globalization and internationalization, English has become a lingua franca in the modern world, and it serves a significant role in publicizing research findings for international communities (Schreier et al., 2020; Cheng and Zhang, 2021). To establish the authority identity in academia around the world, there is a pressing need for scholars outside Anglophone center contexts to disseminate their research in English. Such a need places great demands on English-as-an-additional-language (EAL) researchers, as they are confronted with a variety of obstacles in their attempt to publish studies in English (Mu and Zhang, 2018). Against this background, Corcoran, Englander, and Muresan's book, Pedagogies and Policies for Publishing Research in English, is a welcome and timely addition to the extant literature in this filed. By examining the pedagogical initiatives in diverse contexts, this volume is poised to provide scholars with practical guidance and recommendations, which would smooth their journey of writing in English for international publication. This book starts with an introductory chapter, co-authored by the three editors. In this chapter, they establish the rationale for their work, explicate the aims of this volume, offer reasons for employing a pluralistic approach to such a volume, and detail the difficulties facing pluralistic/multilingual writers while they publish in English. In what follows, we review and evaluate the 17 chapters that are arranged according to the geolinguistic contexts: Latin America, Northern Europe, Eastern and Southern Europe, East Asia, South Asia, Africa, and Persian Gulf. Part 1 (Chapters 2–4) focuses on the local support for researchers in Latin America. Chapter 2 written by Janssen and Restrepo introduces a tutoring service for publishing in English in a Colombian university, which is designed to enhance the academic and research production. In this service, novice EAL writers are offered hand-on suggestions and guidelines from experienced researchers, which can help them to understand ways of disseminating their research internationally. In Chapter 3, Encinas-Prudencío, Sánchez-Hernández, Thomas-Ruzic, Cuatlapantzi-Pichón, and Aguilar-González reports a longitudinal case study that investigated the factors which constrained, or helped promote, EAL teachers' scholarly English publication. They report that collaboration, mentoring network, and workplace demands have a great influence on such teachers' research publishing practices in their trajectories toward authorship. Chapter 4 (Waigandt, Noceti, and Lothringer) reviews and comments on four institutional policies implemented to satisfy research students' and scholars' needs of having their research published in English. Part 2 looks at the initiatives supporting scholars in Northern Europe. In Chapter 5, Arnbjörnsdóttir reveals, through a mixed-methods study, the challenges confronted by Icelandic scholars (e.g., inadequate English writing ability and the lack of genre awareness). Accordingly, the contributor introduces a research-driven English for research publication purposes (ERPP) workshop. As regards the supporting policies available to Norwegian researchers, Muir and Solli in Chapter 6 investigate the relevant initiatives and put emphasis on new instructional approaches to emerging scholars' academic writing. Part 3 addresses the scholarly writing for researchers based in Eastern and Southern Europe. Chapter 7 opens this part, where Muresan and Pérez-Llantada offer a case study on a veteran researcher's development in academic literacy and competence. Furthermore, the authors highlight that in order to get published globally, plurilingual writers should read and write extensively, and be aware of the rhetoric and linguistic characteristics of English texts. In Chapter 8, Burgess, Martín, and Balasanyan elaborate on an ERPP course for doctoral students, which takes a critical pragmatic approach to teach research writing. Such a course affords a better understanding of scholarly publication in English. Parts 4 and 5 turn to the support for researchers in East Asia and South Asia, respectively. Chapter 9 by Li and Cargill characterizes and details a “master-class” methodology, which empowers English for academic purposes (EAP) teachers to impart their students the skills and knowledge in relation to English publishing in China. Administering a large-scale questionnaire, Zheng and Cao in Chapter 10 explore EAL researchers' ERRP beliefs and practices. They find that the majority of respondents believe it is equally important for researchers to publish in English and Chinese. As a sole contribution, Chapter 11 by Nauman represents the region of South Asia. In this chapter, the contributor discusses the effects of English language teaching reforms carried out by the Higher Education Commission on Pakistani researchers' language and research skills. He ends this chapter with suggestions on how to meet such scholars' publishing needs in their professional career. Part 6 is specific to the pedagogies and initiatives for publication in Africa. Chapter 12 drafted by Messekher and Miliani identifies the difficulties and obstacles that novice scholars encounter while they seek to publish their theses in the form of journal articles. To ease their publishing journey, the contributors recommend a grounded approach to academic research writing, which aims to prepare Algerian emerging scholars for publishing their studies in international journals. In Chapter 13, Omobowale, Akanle, and Akinsete look into the colonizing effects of English on research publication in...
Xiaolong Cheng; Lawrence Jun Zhang. Book Review: Pedagogies and Policies for Publishing Research in English: Local Initiatives Supporting International Scholars. Frontiers in Psychology 2021, 12, 1 .
AMA StyleXiaolong Cheng, Lawrence Jun Zhang. Book Review: Pedagogies and Policies for Publishing Research in English: Local Initiatives Supporting International Scholars. Frontiers in Psychology. 2021; 12 ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleXiaolong Cheng; Lawrence Jun Zhang. 2021. "Book Review: Pedagogies and Policies for Publishing Research in English: Local Initiatives Supporting International Scholars." Frontiers in Psychology 12, no. : 1.
This mixed-methods study investigated English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners’ perceptions of task difficulty and their use of metacognitive strategies in completing integrated speaking tasks as empirical evidence for the effects of metacognitive instruction. A total of 130 university students were invited to complete four integrated speaking tasks and answer a metacognitive strategy inventory and a self-rating scale. A sub-sample of eight students participated in the subsequent interviews. One-way repeated measures MANOVA and structure coding with content analysis led to two main findings: (a) EFL learners’ use of metacognitive strategies, in particular, problem-solving, was considerably affected by their perceptions of task difficulty in completing the integrated speaking tasks; (b) EFL learners were not active users of metacognitive strategies in performing these tasks. These findings not only support the necessity of taking into account learners’ perceptions of task difficulty in designing lesson plans for metacognitive instruction, but also support a metacognitive instruction model. In addition, the findings provide empirical support for the utility of Kormos’ Bilingual Speech Production Model. As the integrated speaking tasks came from a high-stakes test, these findings also offer validity evidence for test development in language assessment to ascertain sustainable EFL learning for nurturing learner autonomy as an ultimate goal.
Weiwei Zhang; Donglan Zhang; Lawrence Zhang. Metacognitive Instruction for Sustainable Learning: Learners’ Perceptions of Task Difficulty and Use of Metacognitive Strategies in Completing Integrated Speaking Tasks. Sustainability 2021, 13, 6275 .
AMA StyleWeiwei Zhang, Donglan Zhang, Lawrence Zhang. Metacognitive Instruction for Sustainable Learning: Learners’ Perceptions of Task Difficulty and Use of Metacognitive Strategies in Completing Integrated Speaking Tasks. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (11):6275.
Chicago/Turabian StyleWeiwei Zhang; Donglan Zhang; Lawrence Zhang. 2021. "Metacognitive Instruction for Sustainable Learning: Learners’ Perceptions of Task Difficulty and Use of Metacognitive Strategies in Completing Integrated Speaking Tasks." Sustainability 13, no. 11: 6275.
Prior studies have reported inconsistent findings with regard to the effects of small-group student talk on developing individual students’ English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) writing ability. To further explore the question under discussion, we designed a quasi-experimental study that included a pretest, a posttest, and a delayed posttest, and implemented it in two English-major groups at a university in China. We randomly assigned the students to an intervention group and a comparison group to investigate whether employing structured small-group student talk as collaborative prewriting discussions would effectively facilitate individual students’ EFL writing development and whether such effects could be retained. The immediate and sustained effects after the quasi-experimental study was completed were measured by the analytic scores on five components of the writing task (content, organization, vocabulary, language, and mechanics) and the holistic writing scores cumulated of all these components. Statistical analyses revealed that the two groups were significantly distinguished by their analytic and holistic scores, indicating that students in the intervention group outperformed their comparison group peers in writing performance. The effects of collaborative prewriting discussions in the form of structured small-group student talk were found statistically significant in facilitating students’ writing improvement in the content, organization, vocabulary, and language use, but not mechanics. The effects on content, organization, and vocabulary were retained as seen from the delayed posttest, while those on language use were not. The comparison group showed little improvement in their writing performance across the three tests. We concluded this study with a discussion on the implications for English-as-a-second/foreign-language (L2) writing instruction.
Hui Helen Li; Lawrence Jun Zhang. Effects of structured small-group student talk as collaborative prewriting discussions on Chinese university EFL students’ individual writing: A quasi-experimental study. PLOS ONE 2021, 16, e0251569 .
AMA StyleHui Helen Li, Lawrence Jun Zhang. Effects of structured small-group student talk as collaborative prewriting discussions on Chinese university EFL students’ individual writing: A quasi-experimental study. PLOS ONE. 2021; 16 (5):e0251569.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHui Helen Li; Lawrence Jun Zhang. 2021. "Effects of structured small-group student talk as collaborative prewriting discussions on Chinese university EFL students’ individual writing: A quasi-experimental study." PLOS ONE 16, no. 5: e0251569.
The study seeks to conceptualise foreign language learning burnout and provide its corresponding measurement. The 15-item Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS) was rephrased to fit an English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) learning context. The modified MBI-SS was then assessed among 1718 Chinese secondary EFL students. A final 10-item Maslach Burnout Inventory-EFL Student Survey was obtained based on a series of reliability (e.g. item analysis, internal consistency) and validity (construct validity, convergent validity, and criterion validity) test results. According to the confirmatory factor analysis results, foreign language learning burnout is a three-dimensional construct encompassing Exhaustion, Cynicism, and Reduced Efficacy, confirming the invariance of the original tri-factorial structure of the MBI-SS. In addition, participants reported low levels of foreign language learning burnout, Exhaustion, Cynicism, and Reduced Efficacy. Possible reasons for foreign language learning burnout were discussed with reference to the FL educational context in China. We also proposed directions for future research.
Chengchen Li; Lawrence Jun Zhang; Guiying Jiang. Conceptualisation and measurement of foreign language learning burnout among Chinese EFL students. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 2021, 1 -15.
AMA StyleChengchen Li, Lawrence Jun Zhang, Guiying Jiang. Conceptualisation and measurement of foreign language learning burnout among Chinese EFL students. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. 2021; ():1-15.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChengchen Li; Lawrence Jun Zhang; Guiying Jiang. 2021. "Conceptualisation and measurement of foreign language learning burnout among Chinese EFL students." Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development , no. : 1-15.
Lexical bundles, as building blocks of discourse, play vital roles in helping members from the same academic community achieve successful communication and disseminate sustainable disciplinary knowledge. However, little attention has been paid to lexical bundles in postgraduate writing. Drawing on Biber et al.’s (1999) structural taxonomy and Hyland’s (2008a) functional taxonomy, we identified and compared lexical bundles in two self-built corpora, an EFL student writing corpus and an expert writing corpus. The results indicate considerable structural differences between the two groups: the student writers used verb phrase-based bundles more frequently and prepositional phrase-based and noun phrase-based bundles less frequently. In terms of function, although the two academic groups showed similar distributions of the three main functional categories, as student writers they exhibited insufficient reader-awareness and incomplete knowledge of stance expressions. It is hoped that the findings will shed light on future pedagogical practices to help novice writers improve their academic writing competence as a sustainable goal in enhancing their academic scholarship.
Shaojie Zhang; Hui Yu; Lawrence Zhang. Understanding the Sustainable Growth of EFL Students’ Writing Skills: Differences between Novice and Expert Writers in Their Use of Lexical Bundles in Academic Writing. Sustainability 2021, 13, 5553 .
AMA StyleShaojie Zhang, Hui Yu, Lawrence Zhang. Understanding the Sustainable Growth of EFL Students’ Writing Skills: Differences between Novice and Expert Writers in Their Use of Lexical Bundles in Academic Writing. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (10):5553.
Chicago/Turabian StyleShaojie Zhang; Hui Yu; Lawrence Zhang. 2021. "Understanding the Sustainable Growth of EFL Students’ Writing Skills: Differences between Novice and Expert Writers in Their Use of Lexical Bundles in Academic Writing." Sustainability 13, no. 10: 5553.
In order to promote the sustainable development of students’ learning capabilities, students are expected to take an active role in the feedback process. Ideally, students should not only actively interpret and act on the feedback received from their teachers, but they should also serve as feedback generators for their peers and themselves. Our study aimed to explore Chinese university English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) students’ perceptions of the feedback practices in their classrooms and their feelings about teacher feedback, peer review and self-review as credible feedback sources. Adopting a qualitative research design, we recruited three teachers together with seven to eight of their students (in total 23 students) from two universities in Northwest China. Data were collected by using focus group interviews and classroom observations. Findings indicated that students relied on teachers to provide informative feedback to help them progress. They also attached limited value to either peer or self-review. Our interview data revealed three possible reasons for students’ devaluation of peers and themselves as feedback sources: insufficient understanding of students’ roles and responsibilities in the feedback process, perceived limited capability and capacity to generate quality feedback; and affective and relational concerns if engaging in the feedback process. These findings highlight the need for teachers to foster student feedback literacy, and hence help them utilize different feedback sources to enhance their learning and sustainable development.
XiaoMing Wu; Helen Dixon; Lawrence Zhang. Sustainable Development of Students’ Learning Capabilities: The Case of University Students’ Attitudes towards Teachers, Peers, and Themselves as Oral Feedback Sources in Learning English. Sustainability 2021, 13, 5211 .
AMA StyleXiaoMing Wu, Helen Dixon, Lawrence Zhang. Sustainable Development of Students’ Learning Capabilities: The Case of University Students’ Attitudes towards Teachers, Peers, and Themselves as Oral Feedback Sources in Learning English. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (9):5211.
Chicago/Turabian StyleXiaoMing Wu; Helen Dixon; Lawrence Zhang. 2021. "Sustainable Development of Students’ Learning Capabilities: The Case of University Students’ Attitudes towards Teachers, Peers, and Themselves as Oral Feedback Sources in Learning English." Sustainability 13, no. 9: 5211.
Effective stance-taking is considered as a crucial skill for successful academic writing and sustainable development of writing scholarship. However, student writers often encounter difficulties in this aspect. Scholars have thus called for explicit instruction to develop students’ academic writing ability as a sustainable goal. Learning stance-taking is a particularly relevant area of intensive interest among writing scholars. Yet, few empirical studies have been conducted to examine its effectiveness on students’ academic writing quality and stance deployment. To fill this gap, a quasi-experimental research was conducted with 46 undergraduate students in a Chinese university, who were randomly assigned to two conditions: a treatment group and a comparison group. The treatment group received an eight-week explicit stance instruction, while the comparison group received curriculum-based writing instruction at the same time. Academic texts were collected both prior to and after the period of intervention. Results revealed that the treatment group outperformed the comparison group in the post-test in terms of academic writing quality and stance performance. Their writing also exhibited changes in the frequencies of an array of stance types deployed (e.g., proclaim: pronounce, proclaim: endorse, entertain, attribute), indicating their enhanced understanding of stance and improved competence of mitigation and integrating external voices for better academic writing. Implications for writing instruction are discussed.
Lu Zhang; Lawrence Zhang. Fostering Stance-Taking as a Sustainable Goal in Developing EFL Students’ Academic Writing Skills: Exploring the Effects of Explicit Instruction on Academic Writing Skills and Stance Deployment. Sustainability 2021, 13, 4270 .
AMA StyleLu Zhang, Lawrence Zhang. Fostering Stance-Taking as a Sustainable Goal in Developing EFL Students’ Academic Writing Skills: Exploring the Effects of Explicit Instruction on Academic Writing Skills and Stance Deployment. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (8):4270.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLu Zhang; Lawrence Zhang. 2021. "Fostering Stance-Taking as a Sustainable Goal in Developing EFL Students’ Academic Writing Skills: Exploring the Effects of Explicit Instruction on Academic Writing Skills and Stance Deployment." Sustainability 13, no. 8: 4270.
There has been much research into teacher beliefs about teaching and learning as seen in the general teacher education literature. In the field of language teacher education, this line of research has been evolving, with the recent trend being streamlined into “teacher cognition” as a generic or umbrella term. Despite increasing amounts of research output so far, research into foreign language teachers’ cognitions about their own teaching and decision-making is still insufficient, particularly with regard to university-level English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teachers in China. Drawing on Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory, this qualitative research focused on EFL teachers’ cognitions about form-focused instruction in Chinese university settings. It intended to discover how teachers’ cognitions changed when they were expected to teach in actual classrooms and what factors contributed to these changes. Data collected from four teacher-participants through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and follow-up stimulated recall interviews showed participants’ support for focus-on-form instruction, which means they not only paid attention to the grammatical form of the language but also to the meaning it is intended to convey. However, data also showed that the teacher-participants shifted from focus-on-form to focus-on-formS instruction in actual teaching, which suggests that they might have realized the challenges of carrying out teaching activities surrounding focus-on-form and would like to take an easier approach by only teaching the grammar of the language by focusing on formS. Such incongruences are interpreted with reference to a plethora of sociocultural factors including traditional Chinese thinking and institutional expectations. The implications of the findings for stakeholders in universities, including faculty members, students, and curriculum developers in similar contexts, are also discussed.
Qiang Sun; Lawrence Jun Zhang. A Sociocultural Perspective on English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) Teachers’ Cognitions About Form-Focused Instruction. Frontiers in Psychology 2021, 12, 1 .
AMA StyleQiang Sun, Lawrence Jun Zhang. A Sociocultural Perspective on English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) Teachers’ Cognitions About Form-Focused Instruction. Frontiers in Psychology. 2021; 12 ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleQiang Sun; Lawrence Jun Zhang. 2021. "A Sociocultural Perspective on English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) Teachers’ Cognitions About Form-Focused Instruction." Frontiers in Psychology 12, no. : 1.
Background Limited studies have been conducted on delineating the rationale behind individual differences in children developing metacognitive knowledge, as well as reading and writing proficiency. Aims This study examined the dynamics of children’s development of metacognitive knowledge as well as reading and writing proficiency during their progression from Grade 1 to Grade 6. Sample(s) A total of 420 students participated in the study, who were tested 6 times to assess their metacognitive knowledge, reading, and writing proficiency. Methods The participants were invited to complete three tests: metacognitive knowledge, reading, and writing, which were administered at the end of each grade year. Results and conclusions Three variables (i.e., metacognitive knowledge, reading, and writing) showed high stability and increasing variance over time. These findings suggest individual differences in children’s development of metacognitive knowledge, as well as reading and writing proficiency. Students’ metacognitive knowledge grew more quickly among those who entered primary school with already strong metacognitive skills; the same was true for their reading and writing development. Results also revealed predictive effects of students’ metacognitive knowledge on their reading and writing performance. Implications are discussed based on these findings.
Mark Feng Teng; Lawrence Jun Zhang. Development of children’s metacognitive knowledge, reading, and writing in English as a foreign language: Evidence from longitudinal data using multilevel models. British Journal of Educational Psychology 2021, e12413 .
AMA StyleMark Feng Teng, Lawrence Jun Zhang. Development of children’s metacognitive knowledge, reading, and writing in English as a foreign language: Evidence from longitudinal data using multilevel models. British Journal of Educational Psychology. 2021; ():e12413.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMark Feng Teng; Lawrence Jun Zhang. 2021. "Development of children’s metacognitive knowledge, reading, and writing in English as a foreign language: Evidence from longitudinal data using multilevel models." British Journal of Educational Psychology , no. : e12413.
With the rapid increase in the number of students learning Chinese as a second or foreign language (CSL/CFL), there is a great demand for Chinese language teachers. Although many teacher preparation programmes have been established, only a few graduates from these programmes enter the profession of Chinese language teaching. This has caused instability of the teaching team and has threatened the sustainability of Chinese language education. To explore the reasons why graduates leave this area and the role of professional identity construction in preservice Chinese teachers’ job motivation, this longitudinal qualitative study investigates the job motivation of three student-teachers as a goal of sustainability in teaching force retention. This study was conducted during the participating teachers’ teaching practicum as part of a master’s degree programme in China. By interviewing the three participants and analysing their self-reflective journals, we found that their job motivations changed considerably during the course of their training. Indeed, their professional identity construction did not determine their career choice. Extrinsic factors, such as income and permanent residence, seemed to significantly affect their motivation of entering the profession. Such findings are important, as they help us gain a better understanding of why preservice CSL/CFL teachers choose other careers upon completing teacher education. These results are especially pertinent to those working in Chinese contexts.
Di Wang; Lawrence Zhang. Sustainability as a Goal in Teaching Workforce Retention: Exploring the Role of Teacher Identity Construction in Preservice Teachers’ Job Motivation. Sustainability 2021, 13, 2698 .
AMA StyleDi Wang, Lawrence Zhang. Sustainability as a Goal in Teaching Workforce Retention: Exploring the Role of Teacher Identity Construction in Preservice Teachers’ Job Motivation. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (5):2698.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDi Wang; Lawrence Zhang. 2021. "Sustainability as a Goal in Teaching Workforce Retention: Exploring the Role of Teacher Identity Construction in Preservice Teachers’ Job Motivation." Sustainability 13, no. 5: 2698.
This longitudinal study investigated the effects of a xu-argument based iterative continuation task (XBICT) on an EFL learner’s processing of different English linguistic items, overall EFL achievement (EFLA), and foreign language learning attitude (FLLA). The treatment material was taken from a novel, divided into 19 parts, which the EFL learner was asked to read and then extend. pre-test and post-test scores, frequencies of the different types of errors and self-initiated error corrections (SC), and observations of the learner behaviors were collected as data for analysis. Results show significant correlations among the different errors and self-initiated error corrections, suggesting that EFL learning is an integrated system, where errors in one linguistic item can be strong indicators of errors elsewhere. Results also show significant improvement in the EFL learner’s processing of past temporal morphemes, overall EFL achievement, and foreign language learning attitude, despite the fact that self-initiated error corrections of spellings are the most frequent while corrections of articles are the least common. These findings suggest that XBICT could be an effective approach in EFL learning but its efficacy could vary with reference to different linguistic items. Some pedagogical implications are discussed.
Sumin Zhang; Lawrence Jun Zhang. Effects of a xu-argument based iterative continuation task on an EFL learner’s linguistic and affective development: Evidence from errors, self-initiated error corrections, and foreign language learning attitude. System 2021, 98, 102481 .
AMA StyleSumin Zhang, Lawrence Jun Zhang. Effects of a xu-argument based iterative continuation task on an EFL learner’s linguistic and affective development: Evidence from errors, self-initiated error corrections, and foreign language learning attitude. System. 2021; 98 ():102481.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSumin Zhang; Lawrence Jun Zhang. 2021. "Effects of a xu-argument based iterative continuation task on an EFL learner’s linguistic and affective development: Evidence from errors, self-initiated error corrections, and foreign language learning attitude." System 98, no. : 102481.