This research addresses how a prototype of a language tutoring system, the Chinese Tutor, tackles the practical problem of negative transfer (i.e. mother tongue influence) in the learning of Chinese grammar by English-speaking students. The design of the Chinese Tutor has been based on the results of empirical studies carried out as part of this research. The results of the data analysis show that negative transfer can be used to account for almost 80% of the errors observed in the linguistic output of students in their study of Chinese. If the students can be helped to overcome these errors, the standard of their Chinese will be greatly improved. In this research, an approach of Intelligent Language Tutoring Systems (ILTSs) has been adopted for handling negative transfer. This is because there are several advantages of ILTSs, including interactive learning, highly individualised instruction and student-centred instruction [Wyatt 1984 .The Chinese Tutor contains five main components: the Expert Model, which contains all the linguistic knowledge for tutoring and serves as a standard for evaluating the student's performance; the Student Model, which collects information on the student's performance; the Diagnoser, which detects different types of error made by the student; the Tutor Model, which plans student learning, makes didactic decisions and chooses an appropriate tutorial strategy based on the student’s performance; and the Interface Module, which communicates between the student and the system. A general and robust solution to the treatment of negative transfer, i.e. the technique of Mixed Grammar has been devised. The rules in this grammar can be applied to detect arbitrary transfer errors by using a general set of rules. A number of students in the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Durham have used the Chinese Tutor with positive results.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 156-160)

published_or_final_version / English Studies and Comparative Literature / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

University of Macau / Faculty of Arts and Humanities. / Department of Portuguese

University of Macau / Faculty of Arts and Humanities. / Department of Portuguese

University of Macau / Faculty of Arts and Humanities. / Department of Portuguese

University of Macau / Faculty of Arts and Humanities. / Department of Portuguese

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

This study explored the relationship between vocabulary size (i.e., breadth of knowledge), depth of vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension of Chinese-speaking ESL (English as a second language) university students in Canada. Both aspects of vocabulary knowledge, breadth and depth, continue to play roles in vocabulary research. Few studies, however, have focused on which aspect plays the predominant role in L2 reading. Using three language tests---the GRE (Graduate Record Examinations) for reading comprehension, Nation's (1990) Vocabulary Levels Test, and Read's (1998) Word Associates Test---and verbal reports, the general purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension, and the specific focus was to find out which aspect of vocabulary knowledge, breadth or depth, has greater impact on determining reading comprehension performance. The results demonstrate that (1) test scores on vocabulary size, depth of vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension are positively correlated, (2) vocabulary size is a stronger predictor of reading comprehension than depth of vocabulary knowledge, and (3) breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge are closely interrelated and mutually facilitative. The findings suggest the importance of vocabulary size in reading comprehension for the population tested.

With English becoming a world language, an increasing number of non-native-English-speaking (NNES) students are pursuing studies in English-medium universities. Of these NNES students, Chinese students constitute a large proportion. Most of these Chinese students are NNES and need English language support to help them meet academic demands in English-speaking settings. However, there are a very limited number of studies conducted on linguistic needs and deficiencies among Chinese students at English-speaking universities in Canada. / The main objective of this thesis is to discover Chinese students' perceptions of academic English listening competence and to investigate their academic listening needs for academic success at Canadian universities. This small-scale study at two Canadian universities, conducted through a questionnaire survey and follow-up interviews, fills a gap in the limited number of studies concerning Chinese students' language-development needs at Canadian universities. / Findings of this study support the following points. Firstly, Chinese students think that having sufficient English academic listening competence is crucial and necessary for academic success in academic English settings. Secondly, Chinese students still have difficulties in various academic listening skills, and factors that affect students' listening comprehension are both linguistically and socio-culturally related to the new settings. Thirdly, Chinese students still need target-language linguistic support even though they are admitted into English-medium universities. Finally, apart from academic listening competence, Chinese students report deficiencies in academic writing, reading and speaking as well. In addition, this study also suggests that Chinese students may lack good strategies for enhancing their English-language proficiency.