Abstract
SinceDeweydevelopedtheconceptof“criticalthinking”,manyscholarsabroadhavecarriedoutaseriesofstudiesaboutimprovingstudents'criticalthinkingskillsineducationfield.Inthe1980s,criticalthinkingbecamethetargetofhighereducationprogramsinsuchforeigncountriesastheUSandCanada.IthasgaineditswidespreadattentioninChinaonlyinrecentyears.Butthereareonlyfewstudiesaboutitineducationfield.OurtraditionalEnglishteachingmethodpaysmuchattentiontothetrainingofstudents'linguisticknowledgeandlanguageskillsbutignoresthecultivationofstudents'criticalthinkingabilities.Intheprocessofskillpractice,teachersoftenstresstheimportanceofmemorizingvocabularyandimitatingskillsrigidly,butneglectthestudents'abilitiesinanalyzingproblemsandputtingforwardinnovativesolutions.Therefore,Englishwritingteachingisaffectedbythisandmerelyattachesemphasistotrainstudents'readingandwritingskills.Therearefewstudieswhichaimatsystematicallycultivatingstudents'analysis,synthesis,summary,comparisonandreasoningskillswhiletheyarewriting.Therefore,thisstudyaimsatdesigningsomewritingstasksandteachingstrategieswhichcanbeusedtofostercollegestudents'criticalthinkingawarenessandpromotestudents'all-rounddevelopment.
Accordingtosixcriticalthinkingskills,thisstudywascarriedoutbyrequiringstudentstohandinanargumentation.Allparticipantsinthisstudyarenon-Englishmajorcollegefreshmenfroma211keyuniversity.TherevisedversionofRubricforQualitativeCriticalThinkingSkillsInstrumentwasusedinthisstudy.Withquantitativeandqualitativeanalysis,writingexperimentisconductedwithinawholesemestertocollectdataconcerningstudents'learningbehavior.Reading-to-writeisusedinexperimentalclasswhiletraditionalmethodisadoptedincontrolclass.ThewritingscoresbytheexperimentalandcontrolclasswerestatisticallyprocessedbysoftwareSPSS19.0.Andalsotheinterviewwaslaunchedinsomeofstudentsinexperimentalclasstoassessstudents'criticalthinkingabilitiesreflectedintheirwritings-ThefinalanalysisindicatedthatEGAPwritingmodelexertedasignificantlypositiveinfluenceinimprovingstudents'criticalthinkingskills,especiallyinarousingstudents'writingenthusiasmandcriticalthinkingawareness.Comparedwithcontrolclass,studentsinexperimentalclassmadebigprogressinwritingcompetence.Inaddition,thisstudyputforwardsomereformproposalstotheteachingofEnglishwriting.Thestudyisofgreatvaluetoinstructstudentstoemploycriticalthinkingskillsintheirwriting.
ABSTRACT
Alargebodyofresearchhasbeenconductedontheeffectsoftechnology-enhancedEnglishvocabularylearningsincethe1960s（Marty,1981）。However,noconsensushasbeenreachedyet（Choo,Lin,&Pandian,2012;Mohsen&Balakumarohsen,2011）。
Despitethefactthatsomenarrativereviewshaveevaluatedandexploredthesecontradictoryresults,thisstudyaimsatquantifyingtheoveralleffectivenessoftechnology-enhancedEnglishvocabularylearningwithadifferentapproachtoreview:meta-analysisandperformingin-depthmoderatoranalysesoflearningmethodandtesttypefurther.
Totally,twentyeffectsizesfromthirteenpiecesofprimaryresearchareobtainedaftercollectingrelatedliteraturepublishedorunpublishedinrecenttenyearsviafourchannelsandselectingthroughthreefilters.Later,alltheprimaryresearchiscodedanddataarecomputedinrandom-effectsmodelwithsoftwareComprehensiveMeta-Analysis.
Resultsshowthat:（1）TechnologyhasapositivelylargeeffectonEnglishvocabularylearningaccordingtoCohen'sstandardsasproposedin1992（g=1.26,witha95%confidentialintervalof[0.86,1.66]）。（2）Learningmethods（intentionallearning,incidentallearning,andintegratedlearning）haveimpactsontheoveralleffectiveness.
Heterogeneityexistsinthethreelearningmethods（g=9.22,p=0,01<0.05），Effectivenessofintentionallearning,incidentallearningandintegratedlearningis^=0.61,g二2.14,g=0.98respectively.Incidentallearningundertechnology-enhancedenvironmentyieldsthelargesteffectivenessonEnglishvocabularylearning.（3）Testtypes（recognitiontests,recalltests,recognition+recalltests）alsohaveimpactsontheoveralleffectiveness.Thethreetesttypesareheterogeneousaswell{Q=17.04,p=0.000<0.05）。Recognitiontests,recalltests,andrecognition+recalltestshaveeffectsizesof3.59,0.71and0.37respectively.Technology-enhancedEnglishvocabularylearningachievesthelargesteffectivenessinrecognitiontests.
ABSTRACT
Thepresentstudy,whichisbasedontheCompetingValuesFramework（i.e.CVF:aframeworktoidentifytheorganizationaleffectivenessandtodefineorganizationalculture），aimstoinvestigateEnglishteachers,teachingmotivationatuniversities,theirperceptionoftheorganizationalcultureinthetargetuniversity,theirprofessionalaspirationandhowtheyaffecteachother.Theresearchquestionstobeaddressedareasfollows:（1）HowdotheEnglishteachersperceivetheorganizationalcultureattheirworkplace?（2）Howmucheffortwilltheteacherspayfortheirprofessionalengagementandaspiration?（3）WhatkindsofmotivationdotheEnglishteachersinthetargetuniversityappeartohave?（4）Howwilltheorganizationalcultureandthepreviousexperienceaffectteachers'motivation?
Thisstudyemployedfourdifferentquestionnairesastheresearchinstruments,includingonedemographicquestionnaireandthreeresearchquestionnaires,i.e.thedemographicquestionnaire,theOrganizationalCultureAssessmentInstrument（i.e.theOCAI）（Cameron&Quinn,1999），theProfessionalEngagementandCareerDevelopmentAspiration-scale（i.e.thePECDA-scale）（Watt&Richardson,2008b），andtheWorkTasksMotivationScaleforTeachersTeaching（i.e.theWTMST）（Fernetetal.,2008），toinvestigatetheabovementionedresearchquestions.Thewholeinvestigationtookroughly12weeksandinvolvedthreestages:thepreparationstage,thepilotstudy,andthemainstudy.
Thefindingsofthepresentstudyshowthatmostoftheteachersareintrinsicallymotivatedandwithidentifiedregulationinfluencedbytheperformancecultureandtheclanculturewhicharethedominantculturetypesofthetargetresearchsite.Resultsalsoindicatethattheoverseasexperienceandlengthofteachingexperienceaffectteachers'perceptionoftixeorganizationalcultureandmotivation.Theparticipantswhohaveoverseasexperiencetendtobemorewiththesenseofprofessionalism,moreintrinsicallymotivatedandbemoreconfidentwiththeircompetenceintheacademicarea;andtheoneswhohavelongeryearsofteachingexperiencearewithmoreidentifiedregulationandintrojectedmotivationandaremorecommittedandmoreassuredofstayingintheeducationfield.Theparticipantsinthetargetuniversitybasicallybelongtothehighlyengagedpersisters,andthemaleteachersexpecttobetheleadership.
Abstract
Owingtotheeconomic,socialandacademicneedsaswellastheadvantagesofEGAP（GeneralAcademicPurposeinChineseCollegeEnglish）itself,thereexist这greatdealofnecessityandfeasibilityforapplyingEnglishforEGAPclass.ItisourunderstandingthatwritingplaysanextremelyimportantroleinthecourseofEGAPandgenreisaquiteinfluentialfactorinimprovingstudents5writingcompetency.However,theinvestigationofstudents'currentwritingsituationshowsthatbeingdeeplyinfluencedbytraditionalwritingteachingmethodswhichemphasizegrammarandvocabulary;thestudentshavelittleknowledgeaboutgenreapproachtheoreticallyorsystematicallyandlacktheawarenessofgenre.Becauseofthis,itbecomesnecessarytoputforwardanEnglishwritingteachingapproachwhichiseffectiveaswellasapplicabletothesituationinChinasoastoenhancetheirwritingcompetence.
ThispaperfirstlygivesabriefintroductiontothedevelopingtrendofEGAPbydiscussingitsnecessityandapplicabilityinChinaandthemainviewsoftwoschoolsofgenretheory,thetiieoreticalfoundationandgenre-basedapproachesofthreemainschoolsofgenrestudyandpractice.Andalso,theircharacteristicsarecomparedandtheadaptabilityinChineseCollegeEGAPclassisanalyzed,basedonwhichitputsforwardamodifiedGenre-basedapproachinEGAPwritingclassinordertoenhancestudents'genreawarenessandimprovetheirwritingskills.
Toachievethis,twonon-EnglishmajorclassesoffreshmeninEastChinaUniversityofScienceandTechnology（ECUST）havebeenselectedastheexperimentalclassandcontrolledclass,andtheresearchlastsonesemester.TheGenre-basedapproachisappliedintheexperimentalclassfollowingamodifiedGenre-basedapproach.Andacomparisonhasbeenmadeonthesamesubjectatthebeginningandtheendofthesemesterandthecomparisonandcontrastbetweentheexperimentalclassandcontrolledclasshavealsobeenmade.Owingtovariousfactors,suchaslearningmotivation,differentstudentsshowvariedextentofacceptancetocertainteachingapproaches.Therefore,emphasishasnotonlybeenputontheoverallchanges,butalsoontheindividualdifferences.
Therearethreehypotheses:
1.CanGenre-basedapproachenhancestudents'genreawareness?2.Can“genreawareness”reallyimprovestudents'writingabilityinEGAP?Ifthestudentscangetoverallimprovement,isthereanydifferenceingenderandthestudentswithdiverselearningaptitudesbecauseoftheindividualdifference?Ifsomestudentsfailtoimprove,what'sthepossiblereasonbehindit?3.WillChinesestudentsacceptandadapttoGenre-basedApproach?
Threesetsofdatafromsixwritingassignments,writinginfinal-termexaminationandquestionnairesarecollectedandanalyzedwiththehelpofthesoftwareSPSS19.0.Andthestudyindicatesthat:（1）Genre-basedapproachhasasignificanteffectinsensitizingstudents'genreawareness,improvingholisticwritingcompetence;（2）duringthewholeexperimentalprocess,girlshaveastablesuperiorityoverboys,however,boys'improvementfluctuationiscomparativelyobvious;（3）studentsofmediumefficiencyhavethegreatestpotentialtomakebigimprovement;（4）Unavoidably,inthisresearchtherearesomestudentswhofailtogainimprovementintermsofwritingabilityorgetchangedintermsofwritingnotions,andthroughanalysisithasbeenfoundthatthemainobjectivereasonsare:thedifficultyofwritingitself,thedifferencesofcultureandwaysofthinkingbetweeneastandwest,thelimitedteachingperiod,etc.;andsubjectivereasonsmainlycomefrom:thelimitedcompetenceofstudentsthemselves,thelackofinterestinEnglishwriting,etc（5）aoverwhelmingmajorityofstudentsareliabletoacceptthisapproachandabletoadapttoitprettywell,yetacceptationisnotabsolutelyaccompaniedbyadaptation;（6）feedbackisadispensablepartinEnglishwritingteaching,andmorespecificfeedbackwillbringstrongermotivationinstudents'self-correctinganddeveloping;Intheend,theauthorpresentssomelimitationsinherresearchandhopesthatthiscangivesomehintsandtipstofurtherresearchinEFLwritingclasses.
ABSTRACT
IncollegeEnglishlistening&speakingclassrooms,languageandothersemioticsystemscooperatetogethertohelpstudentsconstructmeaning.Itcanbereflectedinthedesignoftextbooksandtheuseofaudios,videosandimages,etc.Thus,inthisthesis,thetheoreticalfoundationisthetheoryofmultimodaldiscourseanalysis（MDA）derivedfromSystemicFunctionalLinguisticsandSocialSemiotics.TheessenceofMDAisthatothersemioticresourcessuchas:images,audios,etc.areasimportantaslanguageinthemeaning-makingsystem.VisualGrammar,AcousticalGrammarandtheintegratedframeworksofMDAarethemainanalysisapproachesinthisthesis.
Meanwhile,theresultsoftheteachinginvestigationandtheMDAfortextbooksarethepracticalfoundationforthemultimodalteachingdesign,providingfeasibleandeffectivesuggestionsinthisthesis.Accordingtotheresults,itcanbeconcludedthatstudentshavemoreorlessrealizedmultimodalityinthiscourseandarguethatmultimodalityshouldbeusedinmoderation;multimodalclassroomactivities,socialcontent,etc.shouldbebroughtintotheclass;teachersshouldremindstudentstopayattentiontoimages,fontschangeandothermultimodalfactorsintextbooks.
Therefore,whenconductingthemultimodalteachingdesign,attentionshouldbepaidto:（1）Modalitiesinfluenceeachotherwithclearprioritiesinthiscourse.（2）Wordsmodalityandacousticalmodalityaretheprimarymodalities,whileothermodalitiesarejustusedastoolstoprovidesupplementaryinformationandtoimproveteachingefficiency.（3）Thechosenmodalitiesshouldprovidesupplementaryinformationtomakethelearningmaterialmoreeasilyunderstoodandhelpstudentsconcentrate.Then,onthebasisoftheaboveprinciplesandthewriter'steachingexperience,asampleteachingdesignhasbeenworkedout,thenits'feasibilityandeffectivenesshavebeenverifiedbyanempiricalstudywiththemethodofinterview.
ABSTRACT
Degreeadverbsplayacrucialroleindailylanguagecommunication.However,owingtotheirwidevarietiesandsimilarmeanings,itishardforlanguagelearnerstoreallymastertheirmeaningsandusages.
WiththeaidofAntConc3.4.lwandbasedonthecorporaofFROWN（TheFreiburg-BrownCorpusofAmericanEnglish），FLOB（TheFreiburg-LOBCorpusofBritishEnglish）andCLEC（ChineseLearnerEnglishCorpus），thestudyaimstocomparetheactualuseofcommonEnglishdegreeadverbsintermsofsemanticprosodybetweenChineseEFLlearnersandnativeEnglishspeakers.Theresearchproceduresconsistoftwosteps.First,AntConc3.4.lwislaunchedtoextractconcordancelinesofthetargetnodewordsineachcorpusandthesemanticfeaturesofthenodewords'collocatesareanalyzed;then,thesemanticprosodiesofthesenodewordsaresummarizedandcomparisonsaremadebetweenthetwocorpora.
TheresultsindicatethattherearedifferencesaswellassimilaritiesbetweennativeEnglishspeakersandChineselearnersintheiruseofsemanticprosody.
ChineseEFLlearnerstendtounderusethenegativesemanticprosodiesoffairly,highly,andtotally?,overusethenegativesemanticprosodiesofextremely;andmisusethesemanticprosodyofterribly.TheresultsalsoshowthatsomeproblemsexistinChineselearners'useofsemanticprosodiesofdegreeadverbs,andthereasonsmayincludetheirfirstlanguagetransfer,intralingualtransfer,andthelackofinformationaboutthesemanticprosodyindictionariesandtextbooks.
ThestudyhassomeimplicationsforEnglishlanguageteaching,vocabularylearning,aswellasthetextbookanddictionarycompiling.
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