This paper compares four hand-held electronic dictionaries with two paper-printed versions. The r... more This paper compares four hand-held electronic dictionaries with two paper-printed versions. The results show that the four different pocket electronic dictionaries contain less information than their paper-printed counterparts. Based on the results of the study, some pedagogical implications are drawn.
This study analyses Chinese learners' use of phrasal verbs from a longitudinal perspective. T... more This study analyses Chinese learners' use of phrasal verbs from a longitudinal perspective. Through a comparison of the learners' output of phrasal verbs with that of two groups of native English speakers (American university students and British secondary school leavers), Chinese learners were found to be capable of producing an adequate number of phrasal verbs. Yet, they did not demonstrate appropriate choice of phrasal verbs. The longitudinal data reveal that the learners? acquisition of phrasal verbs during their three years of study was not always linear. A considerable decrease in the number of phrasal verbs used in the students' writing in their second year was noticed. No considerable increase in the use of phrasal verbs was observed at the end of their third year. Another important finding of this study is that the American students tend to use far more phrasal verbs than their British and Chinese counterparts.
After Hong Kong’s return to Chinese Sovereignty in 1997, the terms ‘mainlander’ and ‘Hongkonger’ ... more After Hong Kong’s return to Chinese Sovereignty in 1997, the terms ‘mainlander’ and ‘Hongkonger’ have been widely used by English-language media in Hong Kong to differentiate between people from th...
Abstract Corpora are widely used in the creation of language learning and teaching materials, suc... more Abstract Corpora are widely used in the creation of language learning and teaching materials, such as dictionaries, grammar books, textbooks, and vocabulary lists. Little work, however, has focused on how the DDL approach might be introduced successfully into a teacher training program. In this paper, we describe the background, implementation, and results of a DDL-focused teacher training workshop that is designed to introduce a corpus-assisted academic writing pedagogy to in-service English language educators in Hong Kong. To evaluate the success of the workshop and gain further insights on factors that might lead to instructors accepting or rejecting the approach, we administered a questionnaire to participants after the workshop and carried out a statistical analysis of the responses. Results revealed that participants generally had a positive experience of the training. Based on correlation tests, the results also showed that factors such as prior knowledge of corpora, prior experience in using corpora, motivation for professional development, and teaching experience, correlated significantly with teachers’ perceptions of the difficulties in using corpus tools and an inclination to integrate data-driven learning in their future teaching. The findings may be related to broader research on teacher attitudes to the adoption of technology in the classroom.
This article examines the discriminatory discursive strategies adopted in the online interactions... more This article examines the discriminatory discursive strategies adopted in the online interactions between different power groups from Mainland China and Hong Kong in their response to two YouTube videos about the Hong Kong Umbrella, or Occupy Central, Movement. A corpus of 4329 comments made by 2157 posters from Mainland China and Hong Kong was coded regarding commenters’ place of residence and their perceptions of the Umbrella Movement and then tagged based on Flowerdew et al.’s previous taxonomy of discriminatory discursive strategies. The results show that a wide range of discriminatory discursive strategies, used by two power groups from Hong Kong and one from the Mainland, were found in the majority of the comments, including four sub-strategies not identified by Flowerdew et al. While studies to date on the Umbrella Movement have mainly focused on Hong Kong data, our study contributes to the literature by adding the perspective from Mainland China. The findings of this study p...
Since the late 1980s, there has been a growing interest in the direct application of corpora, or ... more Since the late 1980s, there has been a growing interest in the direct application of corpora, or data-driven learning (DDL), in language education. This relatively novel teaching approach has been particularly applied in the teaching and learning of English for Academic Purposes (EAP)/academic writing, especially since the turn of the century. This paper synthesizes and evaluates the research progress in the field of EAP/academic writing since the year 2000 by critically reviewing 37 empirical studies focussing on applications of DDL in this context. Based on the critical review and a discussion of some contentious issues, a set of five recommendations for the way forward in DDL research and practice for EAP/academic writing is presented.
This study explores Chinese university students’ use of phrasal verbs in comparison with their Am... more This study explores Chinese university students’ use of phrasal verbs in comparison with their American and British counterparts by utilizing a corpus of learner English and four native corpora of two English varieties and two genres (argumentative and academic writing). The results show that it is difficult to state whether the Chinese learners of English over- or underuse phrasal verbs in writing because a more striking difference emerges between the British and American students. American students tend to use many more phrasal verbs in both genres than British students and they also use a greater variety of phrasal verbs. Notwithstanding the differences, both American and British students tend to use fewer phrasal verbs in academic writing than in argumentative writing. The learners do not show a fundamental difference from the British students regarding overall frequencies of phrasal verbs; however, the learner-native writer gap does exist between the Chinese and American students.
This paper compares four hand-held electronic dictionaries with two paper-printed versions. The r... more This paper compares four hand-held electronic dictionaries with two paper-printed versions. The results show that the four different pocket electronic dictionaries contain less information than their paper-printed counterparts. Based on the results of the study, some pedagogical implications are drawn.
This study analyses Chinese learners' use of phrasal verbs from a longitudinal perspective. T... more This study analyses Chinese learners' use of phrasal verbs from a longitudinal perspective. Through a comparison of the learners' output of phrasal verbs with that of two groups of native English speakers (American university students and British secondary school leavers), Chinese learners were found to be capable of producing an adequate number of phrasal verbs. Yet, they did not demonstrate appropriate choice of phrasal verbs. The longitudinal data reveal that the learners? acquisition of phrasal verbs during their three years of study was not always linear. A considerable decrease in the number of phrasal verbs used in the students' writing in their second year was noticed. No considerable increase in the use of phrasal verbs was observed at the end of their third year. Another important finding of this study is that the American students tend to use far more phrasal verbs than their British and Chinese counterparts.
After Hong Kong’s return to Chinese Sovereignty in 1997, the terms ‘mainlander’ and ‘Hongkonger’ ... more After Hong Kong’s return to Chinese Sovereignty in 1997, the terms ‘mainlander’ and ‘Hongkonger’ have been widely used by English-language media in Hong Kong to differentiate between people from th...
Abstract Corpora are widely used in the creation of language learning and teaching materials, suc... more Abstract Corpora are widely used in the creation of language learning and teaching materials, such as dictionaries, grammar books, textbooks, and vocabulary lists. Little work, however, has focused on how the DDL approach might be introduced successfully into a teacher training program. In this paper, we describe the background, implementation, and results of a DDL-focused teacher training workshop that is designed to introduce a corpus-assisted academic writing pedagogy to in-service English language educators in Hong Kong. To evaluate the success of the workshop and gain further insights on factors that might lead to instructors accepting or rejecting the approach, we administered a questionnaire to participants after the workshop and carried out a statistical analysis of the responses. Results revealed that participants generally had a positive experience of the training. Based on correlation tests, the results also showed that factors such as prior knowledge of corpora, prior experience in using corpora, motivation for professional development, and teaching experience, correlated significantly with teachers’ perceptions of the difficulties in using corpus tools and an inclination to integrate data-driven learning in their future teaching. The findings may be related to broader research on teacher attitudes to the adoption of technology in the classroom.
This article examines the discriminatory discursive strategies adopted in the online interactions... more This article examines the discriminatory discursive strategies adopted in the online interactions between different power groups from Mainland China and Hong Kong in their response to two YouTube videos about the Hong Kong Umbrella, or Occupy Central, Movement. A corpus of 4329 comments made by 2157 posters from Mainland China and Hong Kong was coded regarding commenters’ place of residence and their perceptions of the Umbrella Movement and then tagged based on Flowerdew et al.’s previous taxonomy of discriminatory discursive strategies. The results show that a wide range of discriminatory discursive strategies, used by two power groups from Hong Kong and one from the Mainland, were found in the majority of the comments, including four sub-strategies not identified by Flowerdew et al. While studies to date on the Umbrella Movement have mainly focused on Hong Kong data, our study contributes to the literature by adding the perspective from Mainland China. The findings of this study p...
Since the late 1980s, there has been a growing interest in the direct application of corpora, or ... more Since the late 1980s, there has been a growing interest in the direct application of corpora, or data-driven learning (DDL), in language education. This relatively novel teaching approach has been particularly applied in the teaching and learning of English for Academic Purposes (EAP)/academic writing, especially since the turn of the century. This paper synthesizes and evaluates the research progress in the field of EAP/academic writing since the year 2000 by critically reviewing 37 empirical studies focussing on applications of DDL in this context. Based on the critical review and a discussion of some contentious issues, a set of five recommendations for the way forward in DDL research and practice for EAP/academic writing is presented.
This study explores Chinese university students’ use of phrasal verbs in comparison with their Am... more This study explores Chinese university students’ use of phrasal verbs in comparison with their American and British counterparts by utilizing a corpus of learner English and four native corpora of two English varieties and two genres (argumentative and academic writing). The results show that it is difficult to state whether the Chinese learners of English over- or underuse phrasal verbs in writing because a more striking difference emerges between the British and American students. American students tend to use many more phrasal verbs in both genres than British students and they also use a greater variety of phrasal verbs. Notwithstanding the differences, both American and British students tend to use fewer phrasal verbs in academic writing than in argumentative writing. The learners do not show a fundamental difference from the British students regarding overall frequencies of phrasal verbs; however, the learner-native writer gap does exist between the Chinese and American students.
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