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As is widely known, Japanese and Chinese not only share the common logo graphic orthography called ???kanji??? or ???hanzi??? respectively, but also share a number of kanji compounds as cognates, many of which share the same or similar meaning. The major objective of this dissertation is to investigate the roles of transfer and the difficulty in Chinese background learners??? (CBLs???) use and acquisition of Japanese kanji compounds and kanji words. In particular, under what condition and how CBLs transfer Chinese words into Japanese counterparts is investigated. The results of a lexicality judgement test, an oral production test, and a translation test showed that acquisition of partially deceptive cognates, which share the same orthography with partly the same and partly different meanings, was often prolonged. It was also found that the difficulty of acquisition of partially deceptive cognates varied according to their cross-linguistic semantic condition and task type. In the oral production test, CBLs frequently used L1 words by adapting them into L2 phonology both successfully and unsuccessfully when they had no prior knowledge of the L2 counterparts. In addition, negative transfer was detected even when CBLs had a correct knowledge of the L2 word. The results of the translation test revealed that CBLs are liable to misinterpret the meaning of partially deceptive cognates when one of their meanings happens to make sense within the context. Additionally, it is suggested that CBLs might create different types of interlanguage depending upon the cross-linguistic semantic condition and relative frequency of the L2 input for each meaning of the partially deceptive cognates. The transferability of polysemy was found to be constrained by prototype condition, learners??? existing L2 knowledge, and task type. While transferability correlated well with the perceived prototypicality of the L1 items in CBLs??? oral production, transfer was also at work for the less prototypical items in their comprehension task. The findings indicate that the transferability of Chinese words into their Japanese counterparts is constrained by multiple factors. Further, both positive and negative transfer influence CBLs??? production, comprehension, and interlanguage construction of Japanese vocabulary in a complex manner.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of English

This thesis explores the mutual impacts between English learners’ identity construction and their English learning at university level of education in the People’s Republic of China. Grounded in the sociocultural perspective on second language learning and based on the theory of communities of practice and the concepts of imagined communities and investment, the research focuses on two non-English major students’ English learning in a comprehensive university and investigates the social, historical and individualistic factors causing identity continuity and/or identity change in the first year of university study and explores how identity construction and English learning mutually impacted each other. This research adopted a qualitative case study method and employed weekly diaries and interviews as data collection instruments. Data collection lasted six months. Weekly diaries guided by prompt questions were collected per week to track learners’ English learning and identity construction. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted every five to six weeks to gain rich contextual, historical and individual information and to retrospectively find out learners’ English learning and identities before entering the university and in the first semester in university. Their English teacher was interviewed for data enrichment and triangulation. Thematic analysis and Fairclough’s model of discourse analysis were used to identify evidence which shows identity continuity, identity change, and English learning. Findings show that in English learning in the university, language learners experienced either identity continuity or change in English learner identities, future career expectations and the sense of belonging to learning communities in the university. Learners’ imagined identities in future careers and future social status remained continuous in the first year and the imagined identities in future careers and future social status strongly promoted learners’ investments in English learning. By engaging in the learning communities in the university with imagination of learning communities they desired to participate in and imagination of their future, learners built their sense of belonging to the university, their classes and their dormitories. The growth of the sense of belonging reflects learners’ identity change. The sense of belonging facilitated their full participation in English learning in the university, classes and dormitories as learning communities. The findings also show that when congruence between the actual and imagined communities appeared, learners’ English learning were promoted, whereas incongruence negatively impacted English learning. The findings of this study reveal the importance of learners’ imagined communities and imagined identities in future careers and future social status and also reveal the effects of learners’ non-academic factors on their English learning. This thesis suggests that learners’ diverse backgrounds and multiple identities should be taken into consideration when English curricular are designed. Career counselling and buddy schemes are also suggested. Accordingly, this study enhances the understanding of the first-year non-English major undergraduates’ identity construction in EFL learning in China. This study also attracts educators’ and researchers’ attention to the needs of non-English major students’ English learning in China as well as the needs of first-year undergraduates who experience a transition from high school to university. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Philosophy

This thesis reports a cross-cultural study that investigated the ways Chinese and Swedish college students do gender in their experiences of reading English as a second language. The concept “doing gender in reading” in this study derives from the view of reading as a social practice that leads to gendered identities construction. Previous studies, which mostly found that girls outperformed boys in reading achievement, created a linear relationship between gender and achievement. This study, informed by social theories of literacy (Gee, 2008; Street, 1984; Kress, 2010) and poststructuralist theories of gender (Weedon, 1997; Butler, 1990), explored how socially-constituted gendered ideologies might be instantiated and negotiated in college students’ experiences of reading English as a second language. It gave particular attention to diversity within and between genders and to the dynamics of students’ socio-culturally mediated reading practices. The study was guided by the following sub-questions: (a) What gender-specific ideologies can be identified in Chinese and Swedish college students’ narratives of reading English as a second language? (b) How do Chinese and Swedish college students act in relation to gender-specific ideologies in their everyday English reading practices? The study was conducted with a qualitative approach of narrative inquiry. Focal informants were four Chinese students and four Swedish students enrolled in English teacher education programs in their home countries. Data were collected over a sixmonth period with techniques of student journal writing, interviews, focus groups, and ethnographic observations. Baxter’s (2003) feminist poststructuralist discourse analysis framed and guided data analysis. The study found three recurrent English reading practices across cases that led to gendered identities construction. These were: making investment in English reading; adopting the strategy of reading English alone; and choosing English reading materials in relation to teachers. Overarching ideologies that shaped these practices included perceptions of reading as a more female-appropriate activity, male readers as independent readers who could solve problems on their own, and female readers as emotional readers who are sensitive to their relation with others. Informants’ actions in relation to these gender-specific ideologies fell into two major categories: conformance and resistance. Findings suggested that female informants seemed to be more ready to resist these ideologies whereas males tended to comply. Swedish informants seemed to demonstrate more awareness of and readiness to resist gendered ideologies compared to Chinese informants. The findings from this study imply that gendered ideologies can have both facilitating and debilitating effects on students’ reading experiences. Therefore, language teachers should develop a critical consciousness of gendered ideologies and how they relate to their students in specific contexts. In response to prevailing socioculturally constituted and power-laden ideologies, the study proposes a new perspective from which to interpret gender and reading English as a second language across cultures. Such a contribution adds momentum to the paradigm shift from essentialism to poststructuralism in second language acquisition that purports that gender is more than an identity label. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

abstract / Applied English Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has become a very important activity within Teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language since 1960s. Researchers of ESP mostly focus on the issues of academic writing, business English, scientific and technology English, medical English, and legal English. However, through out the development of ESP studies, ESP learning in a religious setting, such as in a monastery has not yet caught the attentions of ESP researchers. No study so far has been conducted regarding religious English learning. Furthermore, ESP researchers rarely pay any attention to the issue of Culture Learning within the ESP context. Exploring how Buddhism English is used and learned linguistically and culturally by Chinese Buddhist monks and nuns is the primary focus of this ethnographic qualitative study. Using a variety of data collecting methods including questionnaire, indepth interviews, documents and field observation, information was gathered at a Chinese Buddhist Temple in LA., CA. The following findings emerged from the analysis of 21 Buddhism speeches in English: (1) the content of the Dharma speeches, (2) the commonly used metaphors in Buddhism, (3) vocabulary in Buddhism English. From the analysis of interviews, questionnaire, and field observations, the participants' language learning needs, learning materials and learning strategies are identified. Furthermore, the participants' cultural learning experience emerged next, for example, (1) the influence of their religious beliefs over the cultural learning, (2) their cultural learning experience in four aspects of culture--the culturally conditioned behaviors, the cultural connotations of words and phrases, the cultural comprehension, and attitudes toward other cultures. Finally, suggestions to Buddhism English learning and ESP learning in general are made. In particular, metaphors in Buddhism can serve as learning and teaching strategies in Buddhism English learning; language and cultural learning is interconnected. The ESP learning and teaching model should include cultural learning in the future to facilitate sociolinguistic and communicative competence of the ESP learners.

published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

published_or_final_version / English Studies and Comparative Literature / Master / Master of Arts

In this inquiry, I examine how six repatriated students from China perceive their experiences in Japanese schools and in Japanese second language education. I focus on their voices and perspectives gained through audio-taped interviews. Employing Pierce's (1995) concept of investment and Rampton's (1990) concepts of language expertise, affiliation, and inheritance, I focus on how these adolescent students perceive the relationship between languages and identities and how their experiences affect their ways of looking at themselves. The data I collected through interviews in Japan supports the views that identity is multiple and fluid, and languages are profoundly and intricately related with learners' identity construction. Depending on their particular contexts in which they situate themselves, they hold distinct views on the relationship between languages and identities. I address how the particular context in Japan's educational system may influence their ways of looking at themselves. The study confirms that teachers need to examine our students' identities and frames of reference, values and beliefs.