No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Delaware, 2007. / Principal faculty advisor: Douglas A. Archbald, School of Education. Includes bibliographical references.

The College English Test (CET) in China is the largest language test in the world. The number of CET test-takers has steadily increased from 100,000 for its first administration in 1987 to 13 million in 2006. CET scores are used to draw inferences about the test-takers’ English as a foreign language proficiency as well as their specific skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. To justify the inferences drawn from test scores, evidence from a variety of sources should be constantly collected (Cronbach & Meehl, 1955; Messick, 1992; Chapelle, 1998; Bachman, 2000; Weir, 2005). Despite the large-scale and high-stakes nature of the CET and the importance of test validation, studies on the quality of the CET are scarce. This study aims to examine the construct validity of the reading comprehension section of the CET by modeling the internal relationships between test-takers’ scores on the CET reading section and their underlying reading abilities. Six components have been chosen as observed variables of the latent variable of reading ability, namely, word recognition efficiency, working memory, semantic knowledge, syntactic knowledge, discourse knowledge, and metacognitive reading skills. A pseudowords identification task programmed by the DMDX computer software, a revised version of Daneman & Carpenter’s (1980) sentence reading span working memory test, Meara & Milton’s (2002) Yes/No vocabulary tests, the syntactic test used in Shiotsu & Weir’s (2007) study, Abeywickrama’s (2007) discourse knowledge test, and a revised version of Phakiti’s (2008) strategy use questionnaire were utilized to measure these six observed variables. A total of 181 Chinese undergraduates participated in the study. With a baseline confirmatory factor model of reading ability and the CET scores, a structural model was analyzed. The results indicated that the path from reading ability to test performance was .75 and the squared regression coefficient of test performance was .56, which implied that participants’ test performance was strongly underlined by their actual reading ability. Therefore, the scores on the CET reading section are largely justifiable for use in drawing inferences about participants’ reading ability. Implications for validation research and reading instruction were also explored. / text

No description available.

This research aims to explore the effective use of modern technology and the encouragement of learner autonomy in support of English language teaching and learning at a university in Northeastern China in order to address a number of learning and teaching problems, in particular, the so-called “time-consuming, low efficiency” and “deaf and dumb English” problems. Action research was employed as a research methodology in this study. The action research project consisted of three cycles: the teaching time of each cycle was six weeks, with two teaching hours each week in each class. The 102 research participants were the second-year undergraduate non-English major students who had (or had nearly) reached an intermediate level in terms of English proficiency. Research methods included questionnaires, pre-testing and post-testing, interviews, classroom observation, learning diaries and research journal. All the data were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative techniques as appropriate. SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) was used for statistical analysis. The research findings from the qualitative and quantitative data analysis show that the students made greater progress and improvements within a very short time (6 weeks) in each cycle in terms of listening and speaking skills by the effective use of modern technologies such as computers and the internet, which were used in ways designed to promote learner autonomy and effective learning strategies. More importantly, a more novel and more effective approach to teach listening from the intermediate level to the advanced level has been discovered from this project and a new teaching model using CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) environments in a Chinese context has come into being. On the whole, the students benefitted a great deal from autonomous learning by using modern technologies, dependent upon the quantitative data such as test score changes and qualitative data such as interview and learning diaries. In the meantime, the student learning experiences, my “teacher as researcher” teaching experience, and my professional development have been improved. This study is of great significance, particularly in the Chinese context, in contributing to the current literature on English teaching and learning research, CALL research and applications such as the novel listening teaching approach and the new teaching model using the CALL environments mentioned above. Finally, pedagogical implications are discussed and some suggestions on further research are also proposed.

Thesis (M.A.)--Southwest Texas State University, 1952. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [51]-52).

Technology innovations have occurred in schools all over the world to accommodate Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). In 2004, a national reform was initiated by the Ministry of Education in China which aimed to improve the teaching of College English curriculum by adopting modern technologies. Since then, Chinese College English teachers have been adapting to CALL. This research project presents a case study of one Chinese university, Huazhong Normal University (HZNU). It investigates how CALL is currently used by the College English teachers and the problems teachers are having in using CALL. This study focuses on teachers’ use of, and perspectives on, CALL. Data were collected by two means: a questionnaire involving 31 respondents, and five in-depth interviews concerning several aspects of the College English teachers’ use of CALL in HZNU. Results showed that even with a broad introduction of modern technologies in College English teaching, most of the teachers in HZNU were using computers in a limited way. Most of them lacked a clear understanding of what CALL is and what CALL can do. As well, the results indicated that the professional development in CALL for College English teachers has been insufficient both in terms of techniques and pedagogies in technology. The study indicates further obstacles to College English teachers’ use of CALL, such as insufficient technical support, heavy workloads and the difficulties adapting to the new teaching mode. The researcher recommends that these identified problems warrant immediate attention and she presents a model to guide the improvement of the use of CALL by College English teachers.

Thesis (M.A.)--Southwest Texas State University, 1952. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [51]-52).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1987. / Also available in print.