Ling Shi

Textual Borrowing in Second-Language Writing:

This study examines how first language and the type of writing task affect undergraduates’ word usage from source readings in their English writing. Of 87 participating university undergraduates, 39 were native English speakers from a 1st-year writing course in a North American university, whereas 48 were 3rd-year Chinese students learning English as a second language in a university in China. Using two preselected source texts, half of the students in each group completed a summary task; the other half completed an opinion task. Students’ drafts and the source texts were compared to identify exact or near verbatim retention of strings of words from sources with or without acknowledgement. A two-way ANOVA indicated that both task and first language had an effect on the amount of words borrowed. The study found that students who did the summary task borrowed more words than those who wrote the opinion essays, and Chinese students used source texts mostly without citing references for either task.

Native- and nonnative-speaking EFL teachers’ evaluation of Chinese students’ English writing:

This study examined differences between native and nonnative EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers’ ratings of the English writing of Chinese university students. I explored whether two groups of teachers -expatriates who typically speak English as their first language and ethnic Chinese with proficiency in English -gave similar scores to the same writing task and used the same criteria in their judgements. Forty-six teachers -23 Chinese and 23 English-background -rated 10 expository essays using a 10-point scale, then wrote and ranked three reasons for their ratings. I coded their reported reasons as positive or negative criteria under five major categories: general, content, organization, language and length. MANOVA showed no significant differences between the two groups in their scores for the 10 essays. Chi-square tests, however, showed that the English-background teachers attended more positively in their criteria to the content and language, whereas the Chinese teachers attended more negatively to the organization and length of the essays. The Chinese teachers were also more concerned with content and organization in their first criteria, whereas English-background teachers focused more on language in their third criteria. The results raise questions about the validity of holistic ratings as well as the underlying differences between native and nonnative EFL teachers in their instructional goals for second language (L2) writing.

Exploring Six MBA Students' Summary Writing by Introspection.

Abstract The present study explored the summary writing processes of six first-year MBA (Master of Business Administration) students in a North American university. The participants, three Chinese who speak English as a Second Language (ESL) and three native-English-speaking (NES), each completed a course-related summary task while thinking aloud. The analyses of the think-aloud protocols, retrospective interviews, and written drafts reveal similarities and differences in the writing processes of the participants. Depending on their perceptions of the nature of the writing task, business employment background or related writing experiences, the participants either wrote confidently or struggled through the writing processes, relying to varied degrees on such strategies as verbalizing what is being written, planning content, referring to the sources, reading what has been written, reviewing and modifying ones writing, and commenting on the source texts. The study highlights the role of students’ previous writing expertise in learning disciplinary writing, the complexity of a course-related assignment in terms of its unclear and inexplicit expectations perceived by students, and the need to identify key strategies for good summary writing across and within disciplines.

Using student performance data to develop an English course for clinical training

Abstract This paper reports the development of an English course for medical students approaching the junior clerkship, the first part of their clinical training. Based on the transcripts of video and audio tapes of six 1-hour sessions of ward teaching, the authors first investigated the cognitive demands placed on students as they participated in making diagnostic hypotheses with experienced doctors. They then identified the linguistic skills students needed in order to achieve various cognitive learning objectives. These included the skills of using appropriate everyday and technical terms to translate information from doctor–patient to doctor–doctor discourse, using verb tenses correctly to establish chronology in case reports, and describing location and procedure accurately in reporting physical examinations. In the course which was developed, video sequences were used along with carefully designed teaching tasks, firstly to raise students’ awareness of some of the cognitive and linguistic features of the discourse, and secondly to improve students’ performance through practice. The study illustrates how authentic data from student performance can be exploited to construct a tightly focused curriculum addressing students’ needs.

Topical Knowledge and ESL Writing.

This study investigates the effects of topical knowledge on ESL (English as a Second Language) writing performance in the English Language Proficiency Index (LPI), a standardized English proficiency test used by many post-secondary institutions in western Canada. The participants were 50 students with different levels of English proficiency (basic, intermediate, and advanced) attending a Canadian college. Each student wrote two timed-impromptu essays: one responding to a prompt requiring general knowledge about university studies and the other pertaining to specific knowledge about federal politics. Results showed that students across three proficiency levels performed significantly better on the general topic than they did on the specific topic. The specific topic produced lower scores on content due to poor quality and development of ideas, implicit position taking, and a weak conclusion. Students also scored lower on organization and language on the knowledge-specific task because of weaker coherence and cohesion, shorter essays, more language errors, and less frequent use of academic words. Post-test interviews confirmed that participating students were challenged by the prompt that required specific topical knowledge. The study draws attention to the importance of developing appropriate prompts for ESL writing tests.

Publication Culture of Foreign Language Education Journals in China

0 Leading language education journals play an important role in defining and directing research in TESOL. Participating in scholarly communication by publishing in these journals is important for TESOL scholars, including those who are nonnative English speakers (NNS) working in their home countries. The challenges for NNS scholars trying to publish in international journals has increasingly been explored from the perspectives of either NNS authors (e.g., Braine, 2003; Canagarajah, 1996, 2003; Connor, 1999; Flowerdew, 1999a, 1999b, 2000; Kubota, 2003; Li, 2002; Liu, 2004) orjournal editors (e.g., Flowerdew 2001; Leki, 2003; McKay, 2003). However, very little is known in North America about how NNS scholars write in their first language for locally published English and foreign language education journals. Shi (2002) has noted that the majority of NNS TESOL scholars in China, including those returnees who have been trained to follow the academic discourse of the center (Canagarajah, 1996), strive to publish only in locally published journals that are limited to Chinese communities. Because most foreign language

Learning To Do Research on Language Teaching and Learning: Graduate Apprenticeships.

Abstract This article describes the learning processes that six experienced language teachers described themselves as having accomplished in the context of a 3-year research project in which they worked, in the context of doing their Ph.D.s, as research assistants. The learning processes involved: learning specific research skills; understanding teaching practices, development of theory and concepts; links with aspects of their graduate studies; working in a team, and preparing themselves for their future careers as university professors and researchers. Suggestions are made for developing these notions into a theory of how language teachers, in the context of apprenticeships during their graduate studies, might learn about doing educational research.

Teaching English as a Global Language in the Age of Neoliberalism

Neoliberalism, which promotes a global economy regulated by transnational market forces, suggests that English language teaching and learning be commodified as English becomes “a way of securing economic advancement, elevated status and prestige and trans-national mobility” (Singh, Kell, & Pandian, 2002, pp. 53–54). As part of this global commodification of English, the number of native-English speakers hired as expat English teachers in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) context is increasing.