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摘要：This paper aims to reveal the rhetorical structure and the linguistic features of persuasive language in online advertisements of electronic products. Nowadays, the bulk of e-commerce is carried out in English, and it is often the case that non-native speakers are required to write different text types for various professional purposes, including promotional texts. This need has prompted the present study and the results have been used to build software to help native speakers of Spanish when writing promotional texts in English. The analysis reveals that these texts typically have two main rhetorical moves: one for identifying the product and another one for describing it. The latter move is further divided into two steps: one including objective features (size, weight, etc.) and the other focusing on persuading the potential customer. This is mainly achieved with the use of a relatively informal style (imperatives, contractions, clipping, subject/auxiliary omissions, etc.) and lexico-grammatical elements conveying positive evaluation (multiple modification, multal quantifying expressions, etc.). The findings show that online advertisements of electronic products may be regarded as a specific subgenre with particular macro- and microlinguistic characteristics, which have been identified in this paper for technical writing assistance. [Copyright The American University; published by Elsevier Ltd.]

摘要：Language-focused materials for teaching professional legal writing to second language writers of English in U.S. law schools have been dominated by a set of 'Plain English' recommendations, particularly avoidance of the passive voice and nominalizations. At the same time, little to no research has addressed whether these recommendations actually reflect expert use or whether they are indicative of more or less skilled novice performance. To investigate the use of these features in expert and learner texts, two corpora were examined. The expert corpus was composed of 10 published pedagogical sample memos used in legal writing instruction. The learner corpus was composed of 13 low-rated student memos and 13 high-rated student memos. Although an initial chi-square comparison of learner and expert corpora suggests that the experts use both the passive voice and nominalizations significantly less frequently than learners, further analysis suggests that the usage of these features does not clearly distinguish more skilled novices from those who are less skilled. A closer look at the expert corpus also suggests that the use of these features is highly variable across individual samples. Implications for pedagogy are discussed. [Copyright The American University; published by Elsevier Ltd.]

摘要：Extended noun phrases are a feature of academic prose. An analysis of noun phrases in the writing of international students on an EAP course in New Zealand showed that their use of noun modifiers was atypical of academic writing in general. One example is that nouns as noun pre-modifiers were used relatively infrequently. Our purpose in this article is to present an approach to task development that can usefully guide teachers in developing their own complex noun phrase tasks. Our exemplar task aims to increase learners' understanding and use of noun-noun phrases with repeated application to many different academic texts throughout a programme of study. Adapted from the source document

摘要：The Output Hypothesis proposes that language production can facilitate language learning in a number of ways. However, while early research into this theory provided a strong starting point for further research, it did not provide clear, long-term evidence of output's role in language acquisition. More recent research has addressed this problem by using simple writing task sequences in which output precedes input in order to maximize its role in noticing. Results have been encouraging. In this article, I summarize this research before going on to suggest ways in which teachers can utilize similar task sequences in order to create practical classroom techniques which encourage learners to notice holes in their own knowledge and gaps between their written ability and expert user texts. Adapted from the source document

摘要：Concerns over the quality of peer feedback and entrenched teacher-driven learning have resulted in the limited use of peer assessment in Chinese EFL writing instruction. This study sought to effectively implement peer assessment for EFL writing in China, by addressing learners' concerns through tailor-made teacher intervention strategies. Eighteen English majors participated in peer assessment for nine writing tasks. Pre-intervention surveys elicited learners' concerns over peer assessment, leading to the design of teacher-led support strategies. Post-task surveys examined learners' satisfaction with teacher-supported peer assessment, and were supplemented by the assignment feedback data. The results show that a dynamic and continuous teacher support approach to peer assessment was reported which proved to substantially affect learners' perceptions, and the nature and the perceived value of peer assessment respectively. This paper provides implications for EFL writing teachers regarding pedagogic motivation and strategies for the effective use of peer assessment. Adapted from the source document

摘要：Recent studies in linguistics have shown that metaphor is ubiquitous. This has important consequences for language learners who need to use it appropriately in their speech and writing. This study aims to provide a preliminary measure of the amount and distribution of metaphor used by language learners in their writing across Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) levels. Two hundred essays written by Greek- and German-speaking learners of English are examined for their use of metaphor. The findings are that the overall density of metaphor increases from CEFR levels A2 to C2. At lower levels, most of the metaphoric items are closed-class, consisting mainly of prepositions, but at B2 level and beyond, the majority of metaphoric items are open-class. Metaphor is used to perform increasingly sophisticated functions at each of the levels. At B2 level, significantly more errors start to be perceived in the metaphorically used words, and there is more evidence of L1 influence. Descriptors are provided for CEFR levels A2-C2 regarding the use of metaphor. Adapted from the source document

摘要：Laufer and Nation (1995) proposed that the Lexical Frequency Profile (LFP) can estimate the size of a second-language writer's productive vocabulary. Meara (2005) questioned the sensitivity and the reliability of LFPs for estimating vocabulary sizes, based on the results obtained from probabilistic simulations of LFPs. However, the underlying mathematical model for the simulations, based on Zipf's law, allows such an analysis to be done directly, without recourse to simulations. The direct analysis has the further advantage of demonstrating how variability estimates obtained from within the 1k band (the 1,000 most frequent words of English) portion of written texts may explain the simulation results. The findings confirm that the ability of LFPs to distinguish between groups diminishes as vocabulary size increases. However, for fairly homogeneous groups, LFPs are able to provide a coarse but reasonable tool for vocabulary size estimation. We also explore modifications to Zipf's law that may result in a more accurate model of word frequencies in natural language.

摘要：This longitudinal study investigates the development of writing proficiency in English as a foreign language (EFL), in contrast to the development of first language (L1) writing proficiency in Dutch L1, in a sample of almost 400 secondary school students in the Netherlands. Students performed several writing tasks in both languages in three consecutive years. Furthermore, data were collected about students' metacognitive and linguistic knowledge (grammar, vocabulary, and spelling) and their fluency in lexical retrieval and sentence building (reaction times). Analyses, using structural equation modeling, show that EFL writing was more strongly correlated to linguistic knowledge and linguistic fluency than L1 writing was and that, over the course of the two years investigated, students' EFL writing proficiency improved to a greater extent than did their L1 writing proficiency. Furthermore, through the modeling of L1 and EFL writing proficiency, a strong relation between the two constructs could be established, with metacognitive knowledge and general fluency mediating this relation. This finding is paralleled by the study of Van Gelderen, Schoonen, Stoel, De Glopper, and Hulstijn (2007) showing a strong relationship between L1 and EFL reading proficiency. Taken together, the findings of these studies call for the inclusion of the constructs of L1 proficiency, linguistic fluency (speed of processing of lexical and grammatical information), and language-general metacognition in theories of the acquisition of L2 proficiency.

摘要：We report a classroom experiment directed at increasing lexical fluency in writing. Participants were 107 Dutch students in bilingual (EFL) education (Grades 10 and 11). According to current theories of writing such fluency allows writers to devote more attention to higher order aspects of text production, such as idea generation, selection and organization, and revision of content. Two contrasting assumptions are studied: the inhibition assumption that effortful word production prevents writers from attending to higher order aspects and the compensation assumption that writers compensate for effortful word production processes by sequential processing strategies. Results show that a group trained in writingandfluency in the deployment of useful words for writing in specific tasks outperformed a group receiving the same writing lessons butwithoutfluency training both in fluency of trained words and in frequency of use of the target words in writing. However, the lexical fluency group did not produce foreign language texts of better quality than the group that received no fluency training. Both groups, however, outperformed a baseline control group that had not received writing lessons. The results are interpreted as support for the compensation assumption.

摘要：Usage-based theories of language learning suggest that native speakers of a language are acutely aware of formulaic language due in large part to frequency effects. Corpora and data-driven learning can offer useful insights into frequent patterns of naturally occurring language to second/foreign language learners who, unlike native speakers, are not privy to a lifetime of input and fine-tuning. Recently, the use of the web in combination with the Google search engine as an accessible corpus and concordancer has received much attention. This article describes an experiment which tests the hypothesis that native speakers of English perceive learner-generated phrases to be more natural after learners have searched the phrases on Google and modified them in light of the frequency of search results. The findings indicate that native speakers perceive phrases that generated more results in Google searches to be more natural.

摘要：Today Web 2.0 technologies, including blogs, are presenting both teachers and learners with new horizons in the field of language teaching and learning. A blog is an online journal which can be continuously updated by its users [Matheson, D. (2004). Weblogs and the epistemology of the news: Some trends in online journalism. New Media & Society, 6, 443-468.]. Blogs are easy to construct without the need of understanding HTML, and their appearance and content can be enhanced through the use of pictures, audio and video files. Due to their asynchronous nature, blogs allow people to write and publish their thoughts and views at their own pace without space and time constraints. In language learning, the use of blogs is considered to be similar to that of journal writing [McLeod, 2001; as cited in Lowe, C. (2004). Moving to the public: Weblogs in the writing classroom. Into the Blogosphere. Retrieved April 16, 2009, from [URL:http://Blog.lib.umn.edu//blogosphere/moving_to_public_pf.html]]. Hence, students use the basis of their worldviews to shape and interpret their own meanings in writing. Using task-based activities to encourage students' interaction, the present study explores how a blog as a computer-mediated tool engages a group of English as a Foreign Language learners at a language school in Spain in reflective and collaborative learning. Eleven students who were preparing for the Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) Cambridge examination were involved in a study that lasted for five months. All the participants created their personal blogs so that they could read each other's views, share ideas and comment on their peers' postings. The activities focused on the specific writing tasks (letter writing, report, proposal, article, etc.) comprised in the aforementioned examination. Consequently, the project aimed to (1) enhance writing skills in specific writing tasks, (2) perceive the effect of the learners' feedback and (3) foster collaborative skills. Drawing on the triangulated data collated from the blog entries, class discussions based on peers' feedback and questionnaires, this paper argues that personal blogs can motivate students to build their writing skills through self-reflection and peer feedback. The engagement in negotiation of meaning between peers led to better planning and the choice of the right register/style required in each task prior to writing and submitting their work. Collaborative skills were also fostered through students' regular interaction in the blogs. For meaningful learning to take place, pedagogical intervention could encourage students to take their peers' comments into account so that they can edit their own work with a view to enhancing their writing tasks and producing mistake-free texts.

摘要：This study explores the development of multiple dimensions of linguistic complexity in the writing of beginning learners of German both as a group and as individuals. The data come from an annotated, longitudinal learner corpus. The development of lexicogrammatical complexity is explored at 2 intersections: (a) between cross-sectional trendlines and the individual development paths of 2 focal learners and (b) between different complexity variables. The study contributes to the empirical body of linguistic complexity research by close tracking of beginning learners over 4 semesters of collegiate study of German as a second language (L2). For this purpose, data for multiple variables were collected at dense time intervals using multiple waves, and correlation analysis between various datasets was performed. The results confirm some general developmental trends established in previous research. However, the study also found significant variability between individual and cross-sectional data. Furthermore, differences found for more specific complexity measures between this study's results and previous research are explained in terms of differences in instructional approaches. In addition, the study contributes to the discussion of methods and metrics appropriate for tracking the development of complexity in foreign language writing. The study concludes with implications for L2 pedagogy and further research, including applications of computational methods. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This article is an effort to add to computer-assisted language learning by extending a study on an essay critiquing system (ECS) feedback to secondary school language learners' writing. The study compared two groups of participants' performance, namely the treatment group which received both the system feedback and teacher feedback (i.e., blended learning mode), and the control group which received teacher feedback only. The study was conducted in a secondary school in Hong Kong in the form of an extra-curricular activity after school. Fifty-three students from the ages of 16 to 17 with different argumentative writing experience participated in a series of five writing workshops once a month voluntarily. The participants were assigned to a treatment and a control group based on the stratification approach. Their scores were compared and an interview with the treatment group was conducted. Analysing the total and content and organisation scores of the two groups, it was found that both groups demonstrated statistical significant gains. Nevertheless, the treatment group's gain appears to be more meaningful than the control group's in view of its group composition. The blended learning mode contributes to the encouraging results as revealed through the treatment group's scores, high rating and positive comments on both system and teacher feedback in the survey and interviews. The analysis also implies the need to improve the system feedback on paragraph coherence, workshop design and grading criteria. Adapted from the source document

摘要：Informed by sociocultural theory and guided especially by "collective scaffolding", this study investigated the nature of computer-mediated interaction of three groups of English as a Foreign Language students when they performed collaborative writing tasks using wikis. Nine college students from a Chinese university participated in the wiki-mediated collaborative writing project. Analyses of data from the wiki "Discussion", "Page", and "History" modules on each group tab revealed that the three small groups displayed three distinct patterns of online interaction: collectively contributing/mutually supportive, authoritative/responsive, and dominant/withdrawn. These patterns were substantiated by the roles group members assumed and members' task approaches in terms of equality and mutuality. Also, findings from semi-structured interviews suggested that the different patterns of interaction influenced the students' perceived learning experiences. The collectively contributing/mutually supportive group reported the most learning opportunities. This study not only fills a gap in current collaborative writing literature but also makes a theoretical contribution to research on computer-mediated interaction in collaborative learning. Pedagogical implications on how to conduct computer-mediated collaborative writing are also addressed. Adapted from the source document

摘要：It has been argued that languaging plays a crucial role in learning a second language (L2). The effects of languaging, especially oral languaging (e.g., collaborative dialogue, private speech), have been tested on the learning of L2 knowledge domains. This study explored the effects of written languaging by asking 24 Japanese learners of English to write out their own explanations in Japanese of the corrections they received on a draft they had written. The effects of the type (e.g., grammar based vs. lexis based) of written languaging were then assessed by inspecting the success of immediate subsequent text revisions. Two major findings emerged. First, written languaging about direct feedback on linguistic errors in the first essay helped learners successfully correct these errors during immediate revision. Second, both lexis- and grammar-based written languaging were associated with improved accuracy. These findings support arguments that providing learners with the opportunity to language about or reflect on their developing linguistic knowledge in the course of L2 learning mediates L2 learning and development. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are also discussed. Adapted from the source document

摘要：Presenting a persuasive authorial stance is a major challenge for second language (L2) writers in writing academic research. Failure to present an effective authorial stance often results in poor evaluation, which compromises a writer's research potential. This study proposes a "textlinguistic" approach to advanced academic writing to complement a typical corpus approach that is oriented toward exploring lexico-grammatical patterns at the sentence level. A web-based stance corpus was developed which allowed the users to study both the linguistic realizations of stance at clause/sentence level and how stance meanings are made at the rhetorical move level. The assumptions the study tested included: (1) whether a textlinguistic approach assists L2 writers to polish their research argument particularly as a result of improved stance deployment, and (2) whether the web-based corpus tool affords a constructivist environment which prompts the learners to infer linguistic patterns to attain deeper understanding. Seven L2 doctoral students in the social sciences were recruited. The results indicate a positive relationship between writing performance and more accurate use of stance. However, the application of higher order cognitive skills (e.g., inferring and verifying) was infrequent in the corpus environment. Instead, the writers used more lower-level cognitive skills (e.g., making sense and exploring) to learn. The participants accessed the integrated "context examples" most frequently to guide their learning, followed by rhetorical "move examples" and clause-based "stance examples". This suggests that the learning of stance is critically contingent on the surrounding contexts. Overall, the study reveals that effective authorial stance-taking plays a critical role in effective academic argument. To better assist L2 academic writers, incorporating more (con)textual examples in computer corpora tools is recommended. Adapted from the source document

摘要：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. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications, Ltd., copyright holder.]

摘要：This paper introduces readers to Wordle, a data visualization tool, and describes how word clouds, or wordles generated by Wordle, were used in an action research project designed to facilitate the teaching of foreign language (FL) writing within a dual coding theoretical framework. Over the course of one semester, students in a third-semester university FL Spanish course submitted drafts of their compositions electronically to create wordles (word clouds). The wordles were then used as visual tools to discuss students' writing development, writing strategies, and lexical acquisition. Word frequency counts along with wordles also contributed to student-centered discussions about writing. The paper concludes with a discussion of ways in which instructors can incorporate wordles into their FL classrooms to facilitate the teaching of L2 writing, as well as use them as tools to promote vocabulary development and communicative task-based teaching and learning. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This article reports on a mixed-methods study of Chinese university students' knowledge of and attitudes toward plagiarism in English academic writing. A sample of 270 undergraduates from two Chinese universities rated three short English passages under different conditions, provided open-ended responses to justify their ratings, and completed a written questionnaire. The rating tasks were designed to determine their ability to recognize two forms of intertextuality (i.e., unacknowledged copying and paraphrasing) generally regarded as plagiarism in Anglo-American academia. The questionnaire was administered to collect self-appraisals of competence in source use and to assess declarative knowledge of intertextual practices that match typical Anglo-American definitions of blatant and subtle plagiarism. Qualitative and quantitative analyses revealed that a minority of the students recognized the two forms of plagiarism and generally took a punitive attitude toward the detected cases of plagiarism. Further quantitative analyses found that discipline, self-reported competence in referencing, and knowledge of subtle plagiarism were consistently significant predictors of successful plagiarism detection. These findings raise questions about some culturally based interpretations of plagiarism and point to the need to take a nuanced approach to plagiarism in L2 writing. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This study investigated the effect of direct and indirect comprehensive corrective feedback (CF) on second language (L2) learners' written accuracy (N= 268). The study set out to explore the value of CF as a revising tool as well as its capacity to support long-term accuracy development. In addition, we tested Truscott's (e.g., 2001, 2007) claims that (a) correction may have value for nongrammatical errors but not for errors in grammar; (b) students are inclined to avoid more complex constructions due to error correction; and (c) the time spent on CF may be more wisely spent on additional writing practice. Results showed that both direct and indirect comprehensive CF led to improved accuracy, over what is gained from self-editing without CF (control group 1) and from sheer writing practice without CF (control group 2), and this was true not only during revision but also in new pieces of writing (i.e., texts written during posttest and delayed posttest sessions, 1 and 4 weeks after the delivery of CF). Furthermore, a separate analysis of grammatical and nongrammatical error types revealed that only direct CF resulted in grammatical accuracy gains in new writing and that pupils' nongrammatical accuracy benefited most from indirect CF. Moreover, CF did not result in simplified writing when structural complexity and lexical diversity in students' new writing were measured. Our findings suggest that comprehensive CF is a useful educational tool that teachers can use to help L2 learners improve their written accuracy over time.