iReasearch学术科研网

摘要：Corpus-based approaches to researching metaphor use in business English have become increasingly prevalent, but metaphor use in the genre of mission statements has received little attention. Using a self-built corpus with the help of the corpus tool Wmatrix, we compared metaphor use as a discursive and cognitive strategy in the mission statements of Chinese and US companies from a cognitive sociolinguistic perspective, focusing on three conventional conceptual metaphors in business discourse: BRANDS ARE PEOPLE, BUSINESS IS COOPERATION, and BUSINESS IS COMPETITION. The use of the source domains of these conceptual metaphors was found to differ significantly in the mission statements of Chinese and US companies, thus revealing differences in the underlying corporate identities and ideologies. Chinese corporations, which tend to describe themselves as energetic leaders and strong competitors, are more competition-oriented, whereas US corporations, which tend to project themselves as ethical and responsible community members, are more cooperation-oriented. The findings of this comparative study can shed light on how Chinese companies build their brand images and thus lead to a better understanding of changing national image of China. [Copyright The American University; published by Elsevier Ltd.]

摘要：This article is part of a longitudinal study of American college students studying Mandarin in China. Its main data are drawn from monthly speaking events (four sessions with each student) conducted in Chinese with each of 29 participants in a study-abroad program in China. The study yielded these results: (a) Students made significant progress in their fluency development, especially during the first month; (b) speaking Chinese both inside and outside of class helped fluency; (c) students who consistently spoke Chinese in class and out of class made more progress than those who did not; and (d) time on task, the amount of time that students spent using Chinese, was the most important factor in determining fluency development. The quantitative analysis that is the focus of this article is supplemented by qualitative data from individual students, reflecting the position that only a combination of quantitative and qualitative data can reveal a complete picture of the nature of language acquisition during study abroad. The article concludes with implications for the design and conduct of programs in China.

摘要：This article highlights a three-year longitudinal case study focusing on the transformation of the professional identities of four Chinese ESOL teachers during the first years of teaching in a K-12 environment. Adapted from the source document

摘要：The Test for English Majors (TEM), which aims to measure the English proficiency of Chinese undergraduates, determining whether they have the required language abilities as specified by the National College English Teaching Syllabus for English majors, is highlighted. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This paper reports the findings of an empirical study on ESL/EFL teachers' evaluation and interpretation of oral English proficiency as elicited by the national College English Test-Spoken English Test (CET-SET) of China. Informed by debates on the issue of native speaker (NS) norms which have become the focus of attention in recent years, this study addresses the question of whether judgments of language proficiency by non-native English speaking (NNES) teachers, who are currently used to assess performance on the CET-SET, correspond to those of native English speaking (NES) teachers or whether the two groups draw on different constructs of oral proficiency. Data for the study were derived from two sources: unguided holistic ratings given by a group of 19 NES and 20 NNES teachers to CET-SET speech samples from 30 test-takers, and written comments to justify the ratings assigned. Results yielded by both quantitative (MFRM) and qualitative analyses of teacher data, revealed no significant difference in raters' holistic judgments of the speech samples and a broad level of agreement between groups on the construct components of oral English proficiency. However, the analysis of raters' comments revealed both quantitative and qualitative differences in the way NES and NNES teachers weighed various features of the oral proficiency construct in justifying the decisions made. The paper concludes by considering the implications of the study's findings for debates about the native speaker norm as the target for language learners and test-takers. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications, Ltd., copyright holder.]

摘要：Drawing on data from three English classrooms at two Chinese universities, this paper documents the turn-taking patterns that the teachers and students developed over time and explores how these patterns affected students' opportunities to participate in classroom discourse. The data were collected through observations, audio- and video-taping and stimulated reflection across a two-and-a-half-month period. Based on the findings, participatory implications are discussed and some possible changes to turn management proposed, which are applicable not only to the Chinese context but beyond. Adapted from the source document

摘要：An updated guideline for tertiary ELT in China has shifted the emphasis to the development of learners' ability to communicate in English. Using group work and getting learners actively involved in the actual use of English are highlighted more than before. This article focuses on adapting cooperative learning methods for ELT with tertiary learners. The adaptation mainly involved three aspects: group formation, technique adaptation, and course evaluation. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This article reports a study of aspects of pedagogy that can bring about students' cognitive engagement with academic content and, thus, use of the academic language in content-based language lessons in three middle schools in Xi'an, China. Two criteria -- academic content level and depth of processing -- were used to determine cognitive content engagement by students. A detailed analysis of three lessons taught by the same teacher is presented in this article. These are selected to highlight the differences between teaching that facilitated engagement and the use of the academic language and teaching that failed to do so. The analysis shows that engagement seemed to occur when the teacher focused the content on challenging technical academic knowledge and helped students explore this content in depth. She focused on relationships between meanings rather than facts in isolation and demanded the processing of knowledge in different ways, which created the space for the use of academic language. She structured her lessons in a cyclical manner and exploited the feedback moves in the predominantly initiation- response-feedback (IRF) classroom interaction pattern to facilitate deep processing. She also had clear content and language learning objectives. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Ltd., copyright holder.]

摘要：Research engagement has been widely considered crucial in transforming teachers into 'expert knowers about their students and classrooms' (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999, p. 16). This article reports on a mixed-method study of the research engagement of a group of primary school teachers in China's Guangdong province, focusing particularly on their conceptions of teacher research and the contextual factors driving them to do research. The study revealed that the majority of these teachers opted for the type of research involving experimental use of particular teaching methods or approaches in their classrooms with the intention of improving their teaching and their students' learning. While sharing research findings through publication is an integral part of academic research, these teachers did not place much emphasis on writing for publication, although they reported alternative forms of research dissemination. The study also revealed that research has been promoted through a top-down performance review process for schools and teachers, which has research activity and outcomes structured into it. This mechanism may be effective in promoting research activity among schools and teachers, but it is far less effective in actually supporting teachers' research efforts. We conclude that further research on primary school English teachers' research experiences is needed in order to provide relevant and useful knowledge to teacher educators and policymakers on the Chinese mainland, making research a sustainable path to professional excellence for teachers. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Ltd., copyright holder.]

摘要：This article presents findings from what we believe to be the first large-scale study of its kind on the use of ICT (information and communications technology) in English language classes in China. Participants are 400 EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers from different types of schools in Beijing. The purpose of the study was to examine these EFL teachers' computer use and factors affecting the use of computers as an aid to teaching. Questionnaires and follow-up focus group interviews were employed to address the following research questions: What is the current ICT environment in Chinese secondary schools? What are EFL teachers' ICT skills and what training is provided? How are computers used at present in EFL classes? What factors influence EFL teachers to use computers in their teaching? Findings support the idea that most schools provide a satisfactory learning setting with computers and most teachers in the study had adequate technical computer skills. However, computer use is mainly limited to PowerPoint presentations of pictures, grammar and sentence structures. Positive factors affecting computer integration include the popularity of ICT as a support for learning, the desire to change current teaching methods and the benefits to both teachers and learners, while negative factors include a lack of time, inadequate professional support, poor training and the need for a more integrated approach to ICT integration. The implications are that ICT is recognized as necessary and of benefit to language learners, and that teachers need additional training in two areas: to help teachers attain a higher standard of computer knowledge and skills, and to help teachers to better understand CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) pedagogy and to integrate ICT into their teaching. We suggest that this kind of support could be provided through professional development activities that are specific to the EFL learning context. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Ltd., copyright holder.]

摘要：At different times, the orientation of English language curricula for schools in Asia has been adjusted to meet changing sociopolitical and educational trends. In much of the region, the emphasis has shifted from linguistic knowledge and skills to communicative language competence. The authors contend that if language teaching is to be more communicative in the Asian contexts, there is a need to investigate the extent of factors that constrain the implementation of communicative language teaching (e.g., large class sizes, limited teacher proficiency, insufficient resources and instructional time, examination pressure, and cultural resistance). The situation in China is examined in particular. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This article reports on a multiple-case study designed to investigate factors influencing willingness to communicate (WTC) in the English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom in China. Four university students participated in this study; data were collected through semi-structured interviews, learning journals recorded by the students, and classroom observations over seven months. The data were qualitatively content analyzed. Utilizing nested ecosystems model as an analytical framework, this study identified six factors underlying classroom WTC in the microsystem: learner beliefs, motivation, cognitive factors, linguistic factors, affective factors, and classroom environment. The existence of the meso-, exo-, and macrosystem, and their effect on classroom WTC, were also suggested in the data. The findings contributed empirical evidence to an ecological understanding of Chinese EFL students' WTC in their language classrooms, which is socioculturally constructed as a function of the interaction of individual and environmental factors. [Copyright Elsevier Ltd.]

摘要：This paper discusses issues related to language beliefs held by teachers and students of English in China; namely, the status of English, the learners' expectations of English and the focus of English teaching and learning in China. These beliefs are examined in the context of globalization and China's ever-deepening integration into the global economy, in particular, during the period when China hosted the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. Both questionnaire and interview data will be presented and these databases highlight the prevalence of the belief that English is an international and global language in contrast to Chinese. Belief in the instrumental value of English, both to the country and to the individual, is also found to be common among research participants. Nevertheless, the emphasis on the learning and teaching of English is still found to be examination oriented, which may be an obstacle to the development of the students' communication skills in English. [Copyright Elsevier Ltd.]

摘要：Drawing on an ecological perspective, this paper reports on an investigation into the changes in one first-year college student's beliefs about English teaching and learning since his enrollment. These changes in beliefs are part of the empirical findings of a multiple-case study conducted in the Chinese EFL context. Semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and learning journals were used to collect data over a period of seven months. Qualitative content analysis with the assistance of the NVivo software was applied to data analysis. The findings revealed substantive changes in this participant's belief systems, mediated by classroom affordances across different situations. This inquiry emphasizes that learners' transition from high school to tertiary study is a critical period, during which their beliefs about second language learning are subject to contextual mediation. The in-depth findings of this inquiry indicate the potential for adopting an ecological theoretical framework to explore the emergent, dynamic, and context-responsive nature of learner beliefs. [Copyright Elsevier Ltd.]

摘要：As China is increasingly occupying the world's attention, its explosively expanding economical and political clout has also been felt in the applied linguistics domain, with the discussion on China's/Chinese language issues growing by leaps and bounds (e.g. China's English education policies, Chinese language classes in the West). Amid the world's hopeful or ambivalent attitudes towards China, the present brief discussion, favourably disposed towards a new era in East-West relations, revisits applied linguistics research on Asian language learners, whose problematized image conventionally lends support to Western supremacy and the westernized Asian learner. Future research directions are explored in the light of new global power relations that are expected to act as a conduit to re-balancing dominant language-learner ideologies, applied linguistics research discussion and its pedagogical implications. Adapted from the source document