Reading in a second language (L2) is a complex process that poses formidable obstacles for readers, especially those in the initial stages of learning. The challenge is particularly daunting for lower-level Chinese L2 readers with an alphabetic first language (L1) background. Chinese is a logographic, deep orthography with unique linguistic features that necessitate specific reading processes and skills. The development of Chinese L2 reading competence is heavily dependent upon instruction. Effective instruction requires accurate diagnoses of the learners’ reading problems and appropriate selection of instructional materials. Compared with standardized proficiency tests that provide little diagnostic information, and formal diagnostic assessments that are inconvenient to use in daily instruction for diagnostic purposes, informal diagnostic assessment tools enable language teachers to better accommodate the instructional needs of learners to identify reading weaknesses and select suitable materials. However, thus far, instruction-informative, diagnostically rich, and flexible informal diagnostic reading assessment for Chinese L2 reading is lacking. This study aims to fill a gap in the Chinese L2 reading assessment field by exploring the applicability of three tasks as informal reading diagnostic assessment tools to measure comprehension performance, detect reading problems, and determine instructional material difficulty levels for lower-level Chinese L2 readers. These three assessment instruments are: oral word reading, word segmentation, and oral passage reading. This study is a necessary step towards constructing diagnostic Chinese reading assessment instruments that can be used by classroom teachers. It also contributes to the Chinese L2 reading field theoretically because it examines whether an L1 English reading theory can be applied to explain L2 Chinese reading. The participants in this study were 70 lower-level English-speaking learners of Chinese from several universities in the United States and China. The results showed that all three of the informal diagnostic instruments effectively predict reading comprehension, with oral passage reading emerging as the strongest indicator. One shared construct, oral reading fluency, underlies the three diagnostic instruments. Oral reading fluency strongly predicts comprehension, suggesting that there is commonality in reading across languages, and theories designed for L1 alphabetic language reading can be well applied to Chinese L2 reading. Chinese orthographic characteristics also exert influence on reading, as manifested in the stronger role of fluency in predicting comprehension and the word segmenting processes in reading. The informal diagnostic instruments can also be used to evaluate instructional material difficulty. Two of the three textbook-equivalent texts examined in this study fit the learners’ reading level, while most learners felt one of the texts was too difficult to read. L2 readers have diverse profiles and they develop their componential skills in different ways, whereas the crucial role of word-level processing in reading remains stable across reader patterns. Generally speaking, the three diagnostic instruments were moderately difficult for the participants in this study, and the two oral reading tasks were more challenging than the word segmentation. The quantity and quality of learners’ errors when completing these three diagnostic instruments reveal rich information about their reading processes and problems. The findings offered strong support for the three instruments as effective tools for diagnostic purposes in Chinese lower-level L2 reading instruction and indicated the importance of developing reading fluency and training word-level processing skills.

The Chinese perfective aspect marker le is one of the most challenging yet very important grammatical features for learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL). Based on the observation that there was a lack of width in the study of this feature in the earlier research, the current study presents a new perspective at the discourse level to achieve a more in-depth understanding of the acquisition of le. In response to the obvious need to obtain data on the acquisition of this linguistic feature with a global view, the current thesis study starts with the discourse functions of le, and eventually providing an encompassing guideline in learning le at the prosodic, syntactic, semantic and discourse level in linguistics. Three instruments (UI Placement Test-Grammar Section, Knowledge Test, and Production Test) were administered to 95 American college CFL learners of four different proficiency levels and to 30 native speakers of Chinese as controls. Test scores from the Knowledge Test go through statistic analysis, and the language data collected from the Production Test are analyzed qualitatively so as to generalize patterns in association with the usage of le. Analysis of data indicates that there is a linear relationship between the increase in the knowledge of le in discourse and the advancement of learners' instructional level. In the production data, learners at the beginning and intermediate levels use Sed-le with the highest frequency, in comparison with their use of Ant-le and Pk-le, whereas learners at the advanced level use Pk-le with the highest frequency. Learners at the beginning and intermediate levels also tend to use le in the first SENTENCE more often than at the advanced level. There is also a missing pattern of the so-called "double-le" in both learner and native speakers' production data. In addition, there are patterns that native speakers use, but are not observed in learners' production data. Based on these research results, it is hypothesized the process of acquiring this challenging grammatical feature le be governed by principled interactions at the prosodic, syntactic, semantic, and discourse levels.

This study investigates the effects of instruction delivered via a learner-centered, self-access website on the learning of expressions of gratitude by L2 Chinese learners across proficiency levels. Three research questions are addressed: (1) whether the web-based instruction facilitates students' learning of Chinese expressions of gratitude, (2) whether the effects of instruction vary across proficiency levels, and (3) how L2 learners regard the use of the website as a learning tool. Based on the noticing hypothesis and the pragmatic consciousness-raising approach, a pragmatics website was developed that provided explicit instruction on how to appropriately express gratitude in Chinese and offered awareness-raising exercises and activities for practice. It was structured in eight instructional units and two review sessions. To address the three research questions, this study adopted a pretest-posttest design to include two groups of learners who differed in their proficiency in the Chinese language. The two groups of learners received pragmatics instruction delivered via the self-access website over five weeks. Two weeks prior to the instruction, all learners were asked to complete (1) the language contact profile (LCP) for eliciting their demographic information and their contact with Chinese outside the classroom, (2) a local standardized Chinese proficiency test (CPT) for assessing their proficiency in Chinese, (3) discourse completion tasks/tests (DCT) for soliciting their production of Chinese expressions of gratitude, (4) metapragmatic assessment tasks (MAT) for eliciting their metapragmatic assessment of thanking responses provided, and (5) retrospective interviews for soliciting learners' explanations of their assessments in the MAT. On a weekly basis during the treatment period, learners wrote reflective e-journals in response to prompt questions provided by the researcher, which helped track learners' self-access study progress and their on-going perceptions of the website. One week after the online instruction, all learners were also asked to complete the same types of questionnaires (i.e., the DCT and the MAT) and retrospective interviews for assessing their pragmatic development. Results showed that after receiving the web-based instruction, all learners produced more appropriate expressions of gratitude and used more varied thanking strategies in their responses, regardless of their proficiency. Learners' assessments of Chinese expressions of gratitude became more target-like and their metapragmatic awareness was also promoted. However, higher-level learners seemed to have benefited more from the instruction in their production of Chinese expressions of gratitude than lower-level participants, and the higher-level group demonstrated an overall higher level of pragmatic awareness than the lower-level group after the online instruction. But no significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of learners' metapragmatic assessments. In addition, participants responded positively to the website and put forward constructive suggestions to improve it. Finally, this study interpreted the findings based on cognitive processing theories, proposed both theoretical and pedagogical implications, and discussed the limitations of this study and directions for future research.

No description available.

This thesis draws on the theories of Foucault, and Deleuze and Guattari to describe some ways in which teacher and student identities are produced and performed in a second language classroom. Three major aspects of identity are considered: cultural identity, teacher professional role identity, and the changing identity of the language learner. The thesis uses poststructuralist perspectives to critique notions of identity current in second language theory and practice. It extends the conception of identity as 'subjectivity’ proposed by Bonny Norton Peirce - that is, as multiple, impermanent, fragmented – to include the notion of subjectivity produced in interaction and desire. Through an examination of texts produced in an ethnographic study, the thesis addresses issues of cultural categorisation and stereotyping in second language teaching and learning. It discusses the discursive production of subjectivity in discourses of cultural identity and the extent to which culture is a determining factor in subjectivity in the classroom site of the research. It shows how a homogenising effect of discourse leads to the positioning, both self-imposed and other-imposed, of individuals as members of particular cultural groups with particular characteristics. The thesis also discusses the discursive production of subjectivity through discourses of good teacher and good student, and demonstrates the extent to which these discourses are processes of molarisation. The thesis is thus concerned here with an examination of relatively static, fixed identifications and to demonstrate the power of discourse to determine subjectivities. It is also concerned to look at an excess to discourse, a flow which is beyond signification and identification: desire. Identity change at the discursive level is discussed through discourses of becoming, and is differentiated from movements away from subjectification. These movements of desire are proposed as a new way of conceiving agency. The thesis attempts to show some ways in which these subjectivities, produced in discourse and desire, play out in the classroom, in terms of their production and reception by participants, and the impacts on the teaching/learning context.

This essay concerns itself with the importance of learning English as a second language cohesively. The research focus is on student responsibility to learn English and if as well as how this responsibility contributes to have students' perceptions of learning the language cohesively. The applied research method consists of a student questionnaire and two teacher interviews. The questionnaire produces a description of students' relationship to, and view of, the English language and how they understand their learning process in acquiring it. The two teacher interviews establish if and how the teachers influence the students' cohesive understanding of the English language.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2000. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-102). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2003. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xiii, 103p.; also includes graphics. Includes abstract and vita. Advisor: Mark A. Pitt, Dept. of Psychology. Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-103).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--York University, 2000. Graduate Programme in Education. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 151-161). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ59172

This study is a first attempt to explore how non-participant Chinese listener-learners in an EFL context interpret native English speakers' spontaneous conversation. It was designed to incorporate the theoretical models of how secondlforeign language learners derive meaning out of aural stimuli from the point of view of psycholinguistics as well as from a socio-pragmatic perspective. The study begins by identifying the relative contribution of the factors affecting the understanding of English oral input and diagnosing possible causes of poor listening comprehension. It then proceeds to investigate the individual's use of specific strategies so as to identify the most effective strategies for good listening. Finally, this study aims to develop a listening comprehension model, which will not only help to clarify the interpretative processes of Chinese EFL students, but also enable EFL teachers to focus their teaching strategies. The research subjects were fifteen students from two freshman classes of the Department of Civil Engineering and of the Department of Computer and Information Engineering at Chung Yuan Christian University in Taiwan. They grew up and were educated in Taiwan. They were screened by the National Taiwan Universities/Colleges Entrance Exam and considered to be intellectually and cognitively equivalent. They have good first-language listening and reading skills, and are diagnosed as having normal hearing, based on the medical records on file in the Chung Yuan Christian University Health Clinic. As to the findings on factors affecting listening comprehension, linguistic factors, including syntactic cues, semantic cues and semantic-syntactic cues in the text, are not equally important to the learners' understanding process. The learners' ability to catch the semantic cues is highly correlated with their overall listening comprehension performance; their ability to catch the semantic-syntactic cues is moderately correlated with the overall listening comprehension performance; their knowledge of grammar and vocabulary is wealdy correlated with their overall listening comprehension performance. Extra-linguistic factors, including visual, vocal, and contextual support, the speech rate of the speaker, and the repetition of text, play a crucial role in terms of differentiating listening proficiency levels even among advanced learners of English as a foreign language. As to the findings on the strategies of the learners in listening comprehension, the results indicate that there is a significant difference in strategy use between betterlistening groups and poor-listening groups. The highest-ranking group demonstrates higher frequencies of use of the three major categories of strategies (i.e. linguistic, cognitive and extra-linguistic), as well as soliciting more individual strategies. The findings also suggest that TESOL educators should help learners become more conscious of the importance and the development of more cognitively demanding strategies after they have some mastery of linguistic knowledge. Furthermore, the learners' positive attitude towards foreign language acquisition cannot be ignored in attaining a better performance with respect to listening comprehension. Based on the strategies and processes identified in this study, a non-linear listening model, with three levels appropriate for Chinese EFL learners, was developed. The first level consists of such elements as identifying the lexical, syntactic, semantic and contextual cues in the linguistic information and activating background knowledge and previous experiences related to the topic of the text. This level contributes to the formation of idea units and the construction of the sequence of the events, which constitute the elements of the second level. The second level, in turn, has an influence on the composition of a mental image about what is being said. This mental image implies understanding, which is the element of the highest level. Regression analysis is employed to calculate the correlations and weighting between elements and levels. The analyses throughout this model suggest that a higher speed to activate schematic knowledge and the ability to grasp a greater number of idea units are the two most predominant parameters for good listening. An inability or inexperience in sequencing the events from the text would lead a failure in the utmost understanding of the text. Based on the findings, pedagogical implications for language learning were revealed. The following five ideas are promulgated for future research in foreign language teaching. 1. More attention to be paid to sequence construction in listening problems of L2 learners. 2. Similar research on other populations or by using different genres of listening testing materials would strengthen the validation of the proposed model of listening strategies and processes of foreign language learners in an EFL context. 3. More research to be conducted in the investigation of the effects of cognitivedemanding strategies on EFL listening proficiency. 4. A listening strategy shift from Li to L2 would be an interesting area for future in-depth study. 5. Finally, a confirmatory study with a larger sample size is suggested to verify the model proposed in this study.