This study examines the development of pragmatic competence in requests in two groups of Chinese EFL learners (advanced and intermediate) in a tertiary institute in Macau, China. The learners answer a written discourse completion test that contains ten scenarios where they request common services or ask for favours. The request behaviours are examined in terms of utterance length, strategy types, formulaic expressions, and modifications (internal and external). It is found that, compared with a group of native speakers of English, the learners have not developed native-like pragmatic behaviours. Although the advanced and the intermediate learner groups reach native-like distribution in STRATEGY TYPE for the scenarios taken together, statistically significant differences from the native group are observed in several individual scenarios (particularly with the intermediate learners). In addition, the two groups of learners employ formulaic expressions sharply differently from the native group in types and according to scenario. The learners do not use internal modifiers as frequently or situation-differentially as the native group: they do not show a strong preference for bi-clausal structures and conditionals in the scenarios of substantial favour asking. The learners employ elaborated external modifications and are verbose in requests. According to Bialystok’s (1993, 1994) two-dimensional model of pragmatic competence, the learners are missing analytical knowledge of the scenario-specific behaviours, and their control ability is not fully developed. This study examines adult Chinese learners of English in a foreign language environment, and extends our knowledge of the development of request behaviours in children in second language environments (Achiba, 2003; Ellis, 1992). It also relates to the research on formulae in SLA (Wray, 2000, 2002; Kecskes, 2002) by providing empirical data on formulaic expressions in learners’ requests. It is further argued that further examination of interlanguage pragmatics should be (a) scenario-based, and (b) formulae-based.

Research in the field of Chinese second/foreign language (L2) acquisition, at present, does not match the increasing demand to learn Chinese as an L2, given that Chinese is the fastest growing foreign language (FL) in countries such as Japan, South Korea, the United States, Canada and Australia. There is a significant gap between Chinese L2 acquisition research and the large body of literature in second language acquisition (SLA), which mainly focuses on English L2. The need for more research in Chinese SLA is compelling. Particularly, research in Chinese L2 word order acquisition requires more attention because word order plays a more complex role in Chinese than in English. Chinese relies heavily on word order for information structuring of a sentence because this language lacks other means, such as verb endings indicating tense and aspect, to accomplish this function. Due to the different roles word order plays in Chinese and English, adult English-speaking learners find Chinese word order acquisition very challenging. Chinese L2 word order errors frequently occur in learners’ L2 production. However, Chinese L2 researchers and teachers are left with no means to adequately describe and explain these errors for instruction purposes. This dissertation develops such a means — a comprehensive taxonomy of Chinese L2 word order errors. This taxonomy organizes these errors into a logical system of classification. Through the classification, explicit description of various Chinese L2 word order errors is achieved, and specific sources of these errors are traced. Data was collected from 116 native-English-speaking learners of Chinese at a large university in Australia. The Chinese L2 learners were divided into three proficiency levels based on their institutional status. Four hundred and eight word order errors were extracted by qualitatively analyzing the learners’ written samples. Among the 408 word order errors, 404 (99%) are successfully classified into different categories according to a new criterion proposed in this dissertation. The new taxonomy provides a principle-based description and explanation of various Chinese L2 word order errors. A word order error is deemed to constitute an error when it violates a relevant word order principle (or sub-principle). These principles not only explain why an error is an error but also provide a means for correcting the error. In a pedagogical sense, the directness and explicitness in explaining word order errors achieved by employing this taxonomy cannot be achieved by relying on any other sources of errors available in the literature. The new taxonomy overcomes the limitations of existing taxonomies in the literature that are either superficial, or unsystematic, or not empirically testable. For example, it draws on the Cognitive Functionalist Approach of L2 acquisition. Both its description and explanation of Chinese L2 word errors go beyond superficiality. The approach maintains that adult L2 learners’ conceptualization of the world is initially based on their L1. Their conceptualization of the world imposes constraints on the linguistic structures of their L2. Therefore, errors may occur when English learners of Chinese impose their conceptualization based on the English language onto the Chinese structures. The new taxonomy is systematic because it categorizes word order errors using one criterion. New categories emerging from the data and the existing categories from the literature are incorporated into one system. Finally, the new taxonomy is empirically testable because many new categories emerged from the data. It is an open-ended rather than a closed system. New categories can be added as necessary. The dissertation finds that violation of relevant word order principles has a high explanatory value for the various word order errors encountered in the data. This has clear pedagogical implications. Chinese L2 learners generally lack awareness of the word order principles (and sub-principles) on which the new taxonomy is based. These principles and sub-principles are seen to be of considerable importance to the acquisition of Chinese L2 word order. In order to improve learners’ word order performance, the results of this study indicate that it is imperative for the basic Chinese word order principles be included in a CFL curriculum.

This study examines the development of pragmatic competence in requests in two groups of Chinese EFL learners (advanced and intermediate) in a tertiary institute in Macau, China. The learners answer a written discourse completion test that contains ten scenarios where they request common services or ask for favours. The request behaviours are examined in terms of utterance length, strategy types, formulaic expressions, and modifications (internal and external). It is found that, compared with a group of native speakers of English, the learners have not developed native-like pragmatic behaviours. Although the advanced and the intermediate learner groups reach native-like distribution in STRATEGY TYPE for the scenarios taken together, statistically significant differences from the native group are observed in several individual scenarios (particularly with the intermediate learners). In addition, the two groups of learners employ formulaic expressions sharply differently from the native group in types and according to scenario. The learners do not use internal modifiers as frequently or situation-differentially as the native group: they do not show a strong preference for bi-clausal structures and conditionals in the scenarios of substantial favour asking. The learners employ elaborated external modifications and are verbose in requests. According to Bialystok’s (1993, 1994) two-dimensional model of pragmatic competence, the learners are missing analytical knowledge of the scenario-specific behaviours, and their control ability is not fully developed. This study examines adult Chinese learners of English in a foreign language environment, and extends our knowledge of the development of request behaviours in children in second language environments (Achiba, 2003; Ellis, 1992). It also relates to the research on formulae in SLA (Wray, 2000, 2002; Kecskes, 2002) by providing empirical data on formulaic expressions in learners’ requests. It is further argued that further examination of interlanguage pragmatics should be (a) scenario-based, and (b) formulae-based.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 293-325). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Studies have shown that language tests can and often do have powerful influences on teaching, learning, and the creation and dissemination of educational materials, such as textbooks, in addition to the formation and implementation of language education policies (Au, 2007; Alderson & Wall, 1993; Bailey, 1996, 1999; Cheng, 2008). While the literature provides evidence for this influence, collectively described as ‘impact’, or more specifically, ‘washback’, the form and intensity in which it occurs differ greatly across contexts, due to the dynamic and complex nature of washback phenomena. This case study investigated the washback effects of an English language speaking test, the GMATE (General Multimedia Assisted Test of English), used as an exit examination in a large university in Seoul, South Korea. Developed from the Washback Hypotheses (Alderson & Wall, 1993, p.120-121), there were two main research questions answered through this study: 1) What are the perceived washback effects of the GMATE on teachers’ teaching? 2) What are the perceived washback effects of the GMATE on students’ studying? To answer these and related sub-questions, a mixed-methods approach was taken, including questionnaires, interviews, and classroom observations. This provided a clear picture of what was occurring in this particular context, while offering a voice to the 459 students and 17 teachers who participated in the study. The findings of this study showed that the GMATE indeed had washback effects on the teachers and student participants, and that these effects varied depending on students’ proficiency level, year in school, and term of study. Furthermore, these results supported the notion that washback is highly contextual (Cheng et al., 2014; Cheng, Sun, & Ma, 2015; Cheng, Watanabe, & Curtis, 2004), as this thesis highlighted the importance of bearing in mind sociocultural factors that may contribute to washback effects in this and other unique research contexts.

中國現代作家沈從文 (1902-1988) 的著作，自一九四九年開始在中國大陸 和台灣被禁，長達三十年。這期間，沈從文的文學成就被主流文學史忽略，甚 至否定。可以說，沈從文在中國的文學評論界，以至中國文學史“缺席”逾三 十年。八十年代初，中國大陸的政治環境改變，西方學者的影響增加，中國學 術界開始重新肯定沈從文的文學成就，沈從文的名字乃得以在中國現代文學史 的論述中重現。反之，在西方學術界，沈從文研究從沒有中斷。 選集，無論是個別作家的專集，還是不同作家的合集，是作家風格、面貌 的縮影，而中國現代作家的英譯選集，更是英語讀者認識中國作家最便捷的途 徑。翻譯、編選是“重寫”(rewriting) 活動，而“重寫”往往隱含選取、評價 等判別標準，操縱着譯者、編者對作品、作家的認識與接受程度，對文學作品 能否成為經典作品和成為甚麼樣的經典，有一定的影響。本論文借用勒菲弗爾 (André Lefevere) 的“重寫”概念，先從宏觀角度探討沈從文作品英譯選集的編 者在編選過程中，如何“重寫”沈從文的形象；然後從微觀角度分析譯者在翻 譯的過程中，如何“重寫”沈從文的作品及其形象；而在兩種“重寫”的操縱 下，各英譯選集又如何折射沈從文的形象。

One of the most researched challenges in learning Spanish is the acquisition and use of the past aspect, namely, the preterit and imperfect. L2 learners encounter this challenge due to differences in how native English and Spanish speakers view past events. Numerous studies on the Spanish past aspect have analyzed L2 learners’ past aspectual selections through two hypotheses: the lexical aspect hypothesis (LAH), which claims that lower-level L2 learners are guided by the lexical semantics of the verb in their selections of past aspect; and the discourse hypothesis (DH), which claims that as L2 learners become more proficient, they make past aspectual selections to foreground and background information. The present study uses both hypotheses to analyze past aspectual selections in beginner, intermediate, and advanced L2 learners as well as native speakers. By doing so, it was possible to analyze how past aspectual selections differ across proficiency levels on the basis of lexical aspect and narrative grounding. 75 L2 learners and 20 native Spanish speakers produced two uncontrolled, written narratives. The first was a film-retell based on a five minute clip of “Alone and Hungry” from Modern Times and the second was a personal narration of a favorite vacation. All verbs within each narrative were coded for lexical aspect: atelic states and activities as well as telic accomplishments and achievements. Next, foregrounded clauses (preterit) were separated from backgrounded clauses (imperfect) in order to capture how narrative structure played a role in past aspectual selections. The researcher and a second coder determined the accuracy of use of the preterit and imperfect. Quantitative data consisted of contingency tables and chi-square analyses for the film-retell task and the personal narrative task separately that captured total use of preterit and imperfect morphology for the LAH. It also captured correct use of preterit and imperfect for the DH. Finally, type-token ratios (TTRs) were used to assess the lexical variety of verbs on the basis of grammatical aspect, lexical aspect, and proficiency level for the fill-retell task. The results revealed that for the film-retell and personal narrative tasks, there was support for the LAH. Participants across proficiency groups were guided by the LAH when making past aspectual selections. There was also partial support for the DH in that participants across proficiency groups consistently selected preterit morphology for atelic states and activities, even if the lower-level proficiency groups made more errors in their past aspectual selections. However, showed very little evidence of correct use of imperfect morphology with telic achievements and accomplishments. Additionally, analysis of type-token ratios (TTRs) showed that participants across proficiency groups repeatedly used high-frequency verbs to complete their narratives. This was particularly noticeable for state and activity verbs within the beginner group. Task type appeared to be a major influence in participants’ selections of past aspect for the film-retell task. Participants were influenced by the numerous sequential scenes of the film task, which accounted for the high frequencies of preterit to mark bounded events, but much lower frequencies of imperfect to mark unbounded events. For the personal narrative, frequencies of the preterit were higher than imperfect across each lexical class. When assessing both film-retell and personal narratives, participants produced very few contexts for imperfect with achievement and accomplishment verbs. Participants either did not have the knowledge to do so or felt that their own narrations of “Alone and Hungry” and their personal narrative was sufficient to complete the task. / Spanish

Though the field of Spanish heritage language (SHL) studies has seen a boom in research, such research has not yet addressed the materials available for SHL classes. This dissertation fills a gap in previous research by addressing the representation of US Latinos and US varieties of Spanish in the SHL context. The current study involves a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the presentation of both culture and language in intermediate level university SHL textbooks, in order to show how such texts present US Spanish-speaking people’s culture and their language varieties. Previous research on both history and Spanish as a foreign language textbooks show that US Latino populations in such texts are frequently reduced to numbers, faceless statistics or stereotypes (Arizpe & Aguirre, 1987; Cruz, 1994; Elissondo, 2001; Ramírez and Hall, 1990; Rodríguez and Ruiz, 2005; and van Dijk, 2004a; 2004b). Additionally, previous analyses of the presentation of Spanish in Spanish foreign language (SFL) textbooks show SFL texts provide “…varying or misleading intuitions about dialects of Spanish” (Wieczorek 1992, p.34; see also Fonseca-Greber & Waugh, 2003). This dissertation corroborates these findings in the SHL context and presents suggestions for improving the quality of materials used in the SHL context. The results of the current study clearly parallel those found by van Dijk (2004b); though the texts present “factual” information, it is the selective presentation of this information that culminates in an overall negative representation of immigrant and minority cultures, which is rooted in a metonymical understanding of what it means to be immigrant. Additionally, all the texts continue to promote a pseudo-Castilian variety of Spanish, while delegating student varieties of the language to appropriate home contexts. This bidialectal treatment of US varieties of Spanish excludes critical based dialect awareness altogether. This dissertation addresses the need to both improve and develop “…pedagogically sound textbooks and new technology materials designed to meet the Hispanic bilingual student’s linguistic needs” (Roca, 1997, pp.37-43). It is only through critical discourse analysis that we can assure that textbooks are indeed presenting a positive image of US Latinos and their language to students enrolled in university SHL classes.

In recent years, video games have exploded in popularity and the sales of many popular video games now rival Hollywood blockbusters for revenue. While traditionally used as a medium for entertainment, researchers have also recently begun to explore their potential as learning resources. Many educational games have been created in an attempt to combine entertainment with education, but very little research has been done exploring the potential benefits that commercial online video games can have on language learning. This descriptive study is designed to examine whether or not an off-the-shelf (OTS) Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) - World of Warcraft, can act as a medium for language acquisition. Specifically, it examines whether intermediate-level English language learners’ written accuracy, fluency, and lexical complexity can increase through its play, and what the participants’ perceptions of using an MMOG as a language learning resource are. Participants consisted of four intermediate-level adult English language learners and four English as first language (EL1) speakers. Each English language learner was randomly paired with an EL1 speaker and played the MMOG World of Warcraft over a span of four weeks. The participants’ chat transcripts, along with semi-structured questionnaires, and interviews, were used to gather in-depth data from the participants. The participants’ chat logs were analyzed for improvement in the areas of accuracy, fluency, and lexical complexity by comparing the first and last 25% of their exchanges with the EL1 speakers. Two of the four participants showed some improvement in all three areas that were analyzed, while the remaining two participants showed some improvement in one or two of the three language areas. Results from the questionnaires and interviews indicated that all of the participants felt that playing the game with the EL1 speaker contributed positively to their English language skills and provided a positive learning environment. These results contribute to the growing body of research on MMOGs and give credence to the argument that video games do not have to be solely considered as a source of entertainment, but that they can also be useful as pedagogical tools. / Graduate

This thesis presents thirteen research papers published between 1987-97, and a summary and discussion of their contribution to the field of developmental speech disorders. The publications collectively constitute a body of work with two overarching themes. The first is methodological: all the publications report articulatory data relating to tongue movements recorded using the instrumental technique of electropalatography (EPG). The second is the clinical orientation of the research: the EPG data are interpreted throughout for the purpose of informing the theory and practice of speech pathology. The majority of the publications are original, experimental studies of lingual articulation in children with developmental speech disorders. At the same time the publications cover a broad range of theoretical and clinical issues relating to lingual articulation including: articulation in normal speakers, the clinical applications of EPG, data analysis procedures, articulation in second language learners, and the effect of oral surgery on articulation. The contribution of the publications to the field of developmental speech disorders of unknown origin, also known as phonological impairment or functional articulation disorder, is summarised and discussed. In total, EPG data from fourteen children are reported. The collective results from the publications do not support the cognitive/linguistic explanation of developmental speech disorders. Instead, the EPG findings are marshalled to build the case that specific deficits in speech motor control can account for many of the diverse speech error characteristics identified by perceptual analysis in previous studies. Some of the children studied had speech motor deficits that were relatively discrete, involving, for example, an apparently isolated difficulty with tongue tiplblade groove formation for sibilant targets. Articulatory difficulties of the 'discrete' or specific type are consistent with traditional views of functional lingual articulation in developmental speech disorders articulation disorder. EPG studies of tongue control in normal adults provided insights into a different type of speech motor control deficit observed in the speech of many of the children studied. Unlike the children with discrete articulatory difficulties, others produced abnormal EPG patterns for a wide range of lingual targets. These abnormal gestures were characterised by broad, undifferentiated tongue-palate contact, accompanied by variable approach and release phases. These 'widespread', undifferentiated gestures are interpreted as constituting a previously undescribed form of speech motor deficit, resulting from a difficulty in controlling the tongue tip/blade system independently of the tongue body. Undifferentiated gestures were found to result in variable percepts depending on the target and the timing of the particular gesture, and may manifest as perceptually acceptable productions, phonological substitutions or phonetic distortions. It is suggested that discrete and widespread speech motor deficits reflect different stages along a developmental or severity continuum, rather than distinct subgroups with different underlying deficits. The children studied all manifested speech motor control deficits of varying degrees along this continuum. It is argued that it is the unique anatomical properties of the tongue, combined with the high level of spatial and temporal accuracy required for tongue tiplblade and tongue body co-ordination, that put lingual control specifically at risk in young children. The EPG findings question the validity of assumptions made about the presence/absence of speech motor control deficits, when such assumptions are based entirely on non-instrumental assessment procedures. A novel account of the sequence of acquisition of alveolar stop articulation in children with normal speech development is proposed, based on the EPG data from the children with developmental speech disorders. It is suggested that broad, undifferentiated gestures may occur in young normal children, and that adult-like lingual control develops gradually through the processes of differentiation and integration. Finally, the EPG fmdings are discussed in relation to two recent theoretical frameworks, that of psycho linguistic models and a dynamic systems approach to speech acquisition.