<p>Second language (L2) writing
teaching and research in China have enjoyed a rich history and have had
remarkable achievements. However, the extensive L2 writing literature created
in China has not yet been analyzed comprehensively from theoretical,
methodological, and philosophical perspectives. This research synthesis
provides a metadisciplinary and historical analysis of empirical studies on L2
writing in China that were conducted over the past 40 years by concentrating on
the theoretical, methodological, and philosophical aspects of this scholarship.
This study was set out to answer three research questions: 1) what major
theories have been used in L2 writing research in China, and what changes can
be identified regarding theory usage; 2) what major methodologies and methods have
been adopted in L2 writing research in China, and what changes can be
identified regarding methodology usage; and 3) how do theoretical and
methodological changes reflect the changes in the philosophical bases of L2
writing inquiry in China?</p>
<p> The data in this study are 660 empirical research
articles on L2 writing that were published in 15 top peer-reviewed applied
linguistics journals in China from 1978 to 2017. Each article was read
carefully by the researcher to identify its theory and methodology and was classified
into one of the four categories, <i>Instruction</i>,
<i>Writer</i>, <i>Text</i>, and <i>Assessment</i>,
based on its primary research focus. Theory identification followed a data-driven
thematic approach (Braun & Clarke, 2006), meaning that the researcher drew
on exact information provided in each article as much as possible. Methodology
identification framework was developed by adapting similar frameworks in the
field (Hyland, 2016; Polio & Friedman, 2017). Disciplinary roots of the
identified theories and research approaches of the collected studies were also
identified and analyzed. All identified information was stored on a spreadsheet
for reporting and analysis.</p>
<p> Regarding theory usage, the results show that a wide
range of theories have been used in empirical L2 writing studies in China. Over
40 theories were identified in each of the following three subject matter
categories: <i>Instruction</i>, <i>Writer</i>, and <i>Text</i>; 15 theories were identified in <i>Assessment</i>. In <i>Writer</i> and
<i>Assessment</i>, more theories with
cognitive orientations were adopted. In <i>Instruction</i>,
theories with social orientations outnumbered theories with cognitive and
socio-cognitive orientations. In <i>Text</i>,
functional orientations were more prominent. With regard to theoretical
changes, there were signs indicating increase in socially-oriented and
socio-cognitively-oriented theories in <i>Instruction</i>
and <i>Writer</i>; however, the majority of
the studies were conducted under the process-centered tradition. The
methodology identification results reveal that three methodologies were adopted
by empirical L2 writing studies in China: Experimentation, Textual Analysis,
and Case Study. Experimentation was the most frequently adopted methodology in
studies in <i>Instruction</i>, <i>Writer</i>, and <i>Assessment</i>. Textual Analysis was adopted the most in studies in <i>Text</i>. Overall, Writing Test, Written
Text, Interview, and Survey were the most frequently used methods in all
empirical L2 writing studies across subject matter categories. The results also
show an underrepresented status of qualitative approaches in empirical L2
writing studies in China. No significant change was found regarding
methodology/method adoption over time.</p>
<p> Based on the results, I argue that empirical L2 writing research in China largely remains
in the positivist paradigm, although there were signs indicating a potential
positivist to relativist paradigm shift. I also argue that, considering the
uniqueness of language studies, the meta-paradigmatic accommodation perspective
seems to work better than the paradigm shift perspective in characterizing the
developmental trajectory of L2 writing research in China. By implication, this
study increases L2 writing researchers’ metadisciplinary awareness of the
current theoretical, methodological, and philosophical status of empirical L2
writing research in China and provides research gatekeepers with concrete
evidence for making better-informed decisions on actions toward greater
disciplinary balance and integration.<a></a></p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/8021162 |
| Date | 15 May 2019 |
| Creators | Kai Yang (6619169) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/EMPIRICAL_RESEARCH_ON_SECOND_LANGUAGE_WRITING_IN_CHINA_A_THEORETICAL_METHODOLOGICAL_AND_PHILOSOPHICAL_ANALYSIS/8021162 |
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