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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：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：Research on preparing language teachers for blended teaching of summary writing, a mix of on-site and online instruction for college students to grasp the gist of the texts, is scarce in higher education. This study examined the problems encountered and solutions proposed by six language teachers, who altogether instructed 214 college students on summary writing. The findings of this study are based on content analyses of the teachers' interview transcripts, the teachers' observation of college students' progress in on-site and online instruction, and the interactions among the students recorded in the log files of the online system. The results show that the language teachers' problems in blended teaching of summary writing fell into three categories: instructional processes, community concerns, and technical issues. The four main themes that emerged from the three categories include the following: (1) the changing roles of the teachers and students, (2) little sense of community building, (3) lack of training in blended teaching of summary writing, and (4) an unfamiliarity with the new systems or technologies. The language teachers' perspectives on solving these problems were to (1) distinguish the significant differences between on-site and online language teaching contexts, (2) identify strategies and techniques to facilitate students' blended learning in summary writing, and (3) develop community building skills to encourage teachers and students to actively participate in collaborative learning. These solutions shed light on the preparation of language teachers in blended teaching of summary writing. Adapted from the source document

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：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：Think-aloud protocols (TAPs) are frequently used in research on essay rating processes. However, there are very few empirical studies of the completeness of TAP data and the effects of this technique on rater performance (i.e., rating processes and outcomes). This study aims to start to address this research gap. As part of a larger study on rater decision-making behaviors, 11 novice and 14 experienced raters rated, both analytically and holistically, a sample of ESL essays silently and while thinking aloud. The raters were then interviewed about their perceptions of thinking aloud and its effects. Essay scores were submitted to FACETS analyses, while TAP and interview data were analyzed qualitatively. Score and qualitative data analyses provided evidence and explanations concerning the veridicality and reactivity of TAPs across rater groups (novice vs. experienced) and rating scales (holistic vs. analytic). The paper concludes with several theoretical and methodological implications and questions for future studies using TAPs to build models of and compare essay rating processes across individuals, groups and contexts. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications, Ltd., copyright holder.]

摘要：The European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) ongoing Assessment of Young Learner Literacy, linked to the CEFR (AYLLIT) project is briefly discussed. Launched in 2008, the AYLLIT project aims to produce material that teachers can use in establishing the reading and writing level of young learners between nine and thirteen years, ultimately linking the material to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). Adapted from the source document

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 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.

摘要：This study utilizes a pre-test/post-test assessment to investigate the instructional efficacy of a genre-based approach to teaching summary writing. Forty-one EFL university students in Taiwan were asked before and after the instruction to summarize a simplified version of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in a maximum of 500 words. All the students' summaries on the pre- and post-tests were evaluated against content, organization, vocabulary, and language use. The statistical results showed that such an approach was effective in improving students' overall summarization performance of a narrative source text and that the students benefited to a greater extent in content and organization than in vocabulary and language use. The results were also supported by the students' interview comments. Adapted from the source document

摘要：Implementing process pedagogy in an L2 writing classroom has its own limits for students with low English proficiency. Although L1 writers commonly benefit from writing multiple drafts, most of the low English level Korean college students in my English composition class did not benefit from the revisions. This article introduces an innovative technique, which combines the two dichotomous approaches -- process and product -- through the use of grammar-translation in a reflective and collaborative environment. It discusses how using their previous learning approach -- based on the grammar-translation method -- helped the students to recognize the importance of accuracy for successful written communication and to raise awareness of the audience. It also discusses how this approach has revealed the fact that students' first language use in a second language writing classroom can be a positive tool for improving their writing proficiency and helping them realize the importance of seeing their own writing more objectively. Adapted from the source document

摘要：Feedback in writing has in recent years attracted the attention of an increasing number of writing researchers. While much feedback research focuses on the act of feedback per se, little attention has been paid to the issue of teacher readiness to implement change in feedback. Using data gathered from Hong Kong secondary teachers attending a teacher education seminar on feedback in writing, this article investigates teachers' readiness to implement change in feedback as well as their perceptions of the factors that may facilitate or inhibit change. The findings show that while teachers may be cognitively aware of the need for a feedback revolution, there are obstacles that get in the way of innovation. The article concludes that if teachers are to start a feedback revolution a number of issues have to be addressed, including enhancing teacher training and empowering teachers. Adapted from the source document

摘要：The few studies that deal with machine translation (MT) as a language learning tool focus on its use by advanced learners, never by beginners. Yet, freely available MT engines (i.e. Google Translate) and MT-related web initiatives (i.e. Gabble-on.com) position themselves to cater precisely to the needs of learners with a limited command of a second language (L2). Anecdotal classroom evidence points to beginners availing themselves of MT help, even against the advice of teachers. In order to find out whether MT could help develop learners' writing skills in L2, we ran some tests asking participants to write directly into L2 in one instance and into L1 in another, while pre-editing the L1 and post-editing the L2 within the MT's Tradukka.com interface. Analysis of the output produced has found that MT helps beginners to communicate more, particularly when they had a lesser mastery of the language. The less their mastery of the L2, the greater the difference between the number of words composed with the help of MT and the number of those written directly into L2. It also helped them to communicate better, with blind marking indicating higher quality when writing with MT mediation. Looking at the screen recordings, on the other hand, we found that writing directly into L2 requires more effort, as measured by number of pauses, and involves more engagement with the task, as measured by the number of editing interventions. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This article proposes an instructional design model for blended learning writing courses for English language learners (ELLs). It will do so by combining the main points of the cognitive load, activity, sociocultural, and transactional distance theories to present four tenets essential for optimal learning for ELLs: structure, environment, experience, and people (SEEP). To do so, this article will first review these four theories looking specifically at the ways in which they inform the SEEP instructional design model. The second section of this article will then make recommendations for implementing and evaluating the SEEP model in instructional design practice for designing blended learning courses for this particular group. It is hoped that these principles can be used to inform the design of blended learning writing courses for ELLs, therefore improving teaching practices, and ultimately, increasing the effectiveness of the material. Adapted from the source document

摘要：Although second language (L2) teachers spend a significant amount of time marking students' writing, many of them feel that their efforts do not pay off. While students want teachers to give them feedback on their writing and value teacher feedback, they might experience feelings of frustration and confusion once they receive it. What is amiss in L2 writing teachers' feedback practices? The present article is predicated on the belief that if teachers are to improve the effectiveness of conventional feedback practices, they have to challenge taken-for-granted assumptions and problematize their current practices. Using teacher feedback data from 26 English teachers from Hong Kong and interview data from six of them, the present article analyzes the problems that underlie teachers' feedback practices, discusses alternative approaches, and concludes with recommendations to help teachers maximize the formative potential of feedback. Adapted from the source document

摘要：Collaborative writing is the joint production of a text by two or more writers. Despite the widespread use of collaborative writing in the world outside the second language (L2) classroom, the use of collaborative writing tasks in L2 classes, to date, seems relatively limited. The overarching aim of this article is to suggest that collaborative writing activities, if carefully designed and monitored, may form an optimal site for L2 learning. The article begins by providing a brief theoretical rationale for collaborative writing, drawing on both cognitive and sociocultural theories. It then reviews the small number of published studies that have investigated collaborative writing in different L2 contexts. This review provides empirical evidence that working jointly on producing a written text provides opportunities for language learning, but that factors such as task type, L2 proficiency, and the relationships that the learners form affect these opportunities and may also affect language-learning gains. The chapter then considers new directions in implementing collaborative writing: online collaboration via wikis. The article concludes by highlighting the factors that need to be considered in order to maximize the language-learning potentials of collaborative writing in face-to-face and online modes. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This article presents a study of written development in English as a foreign language produced in a content and language integrated learning (CLIL) environment. The texts analysed, from history classes, were collected annually over the four-year obligatory junior secondary education program from the same students (aged 12 to 16), in two state schools in Madrid, Spain. The ability to produce coherent texts and the appropriate management of the nominal group, or noun phrase, to create disciplinary registers are key skills for academic writing. With the purpose of identifying the linguistic resources used to create coherence and appropriate register in the CLIL students' written texts, all the nominal groups in the corpus were analysed in terms of recoverability of the elements they referred to, further classifying the referential elements into different types. Finally, the structure of the nominal groups was analysed for pre- and post-modification. The results show development in the control of textual resources, as well as some increase in nominal group complexity, over the four years. The study suggests that CLIL settings, which focus primarily on the learning of content, provide suitable contexts in which to develop written discourse, since the students can draw on a solid knowledge base from which to create their text. Students need to be given the opportunity to construct scaffolded but longer and more autonomous texts in the required genres, an ability which is inextricably linked to academic success in the content area. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Ltd., copyright holder.]

摘要：Abstract not available.